


Casino Lights for Nuka Signs

by orphan_account



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Jealousy, Loosely follows Nuka-World storyline, New Vegas mention, Rough Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Slow Burn, Smut, alternating pov, promiscuous Overboss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-09 22:25:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 48,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10423122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After tragedy strikes, Faith leaves the Mojave by urging of her gang's boss and sets off for the Commonwealth to start her own Raider gang. The search for suitable members is fruitless - until the Nuka-World broadcast appears on her Pip Boy





	1. Chapter 1

 Faith ran as fast as she could, arms wrapped around the duffel bag that was nearly as big as her. Thunder rumbled above her, muting the rushing footsteps behind her. She tried to focus on anything but her pursuer catching up - the slap of her bare feet on the ground, the smell of rain wetting the dry desert soil, the heavy droplets giving her small relief from the humid temperature.

_Clothes are soaked. Have to get changed before night time. Don’t wanna freeze-_

“Stop running, you little bitch!”

She screwed her eyes shut at the man’s harsh voice, her attempts to block him out failing. She briefly considered putting her attention back on the screaming pain in her leg, a bullet deep in the muscle of her calf, to distract her from the worry of being caught by the man behind her.

Inevitably, his large hand circled around her forearm and yanked her to a stop, causing her to drop the duffle bag, and she flinched at the sound of the weapons clanking together as they hit the ground. She looked up at the practical giant, blinking rapidly.

“Teach you to steal from me!” He slapped her hard across her face, and his other hand released her arm so she fell to the ground from the force of the blow. The man grabbed his pistol and Faith could only shield her head with her arms in defense.

Her entire body coiled tightly at the gunshot, but no bullet hit her. She heard the man’s body fall like a dead tree, and she lowered her arms to see him on the ground, blood pooling under his head.

Another hand grabbed her arm, and she looked up with a gasp. She raked her hair back with a shaking hand to stare up at a man with bright green hair, though the sides were brown. Older than her, but still young. Mid twenties.

“What did you get yourself into, kid?” he asked, hoisting her up so she was standing. Faith yelped at the sudden pain from putting weight back on her left leg, and she would’ve crumpled to the ground if the stranger hadn’t taken her arm again. “Ah, shit…” he mumbled, rubbing the stubble on his face as he assessed her with furrowed brows. “How old are ya?”

“I-I’m 10,” Faith answered. “10.”

Her savior reached for the duffel bag and pulled the zipper to the side, revealing two rifles and three pistols. “You steal these?”

“I-I—”

“It’s okay.” He knelt down to her height, keeping a hand on her arm. “You aren’t in trouble anymore. Did you steal them?”

She nodded. “Mick and Ralph buy anything I give them.”

“Mick and Ralph… ain’t they the two chumps lookin’ to buy the vacant shop in Freeside?” Again she nodded, and the stranger stayed quiet for a moment. “... Where’s your parents?”

“Don’t have any.”

“Where do you live?”

“Changes.” 

He glanced at her leg. “What’s the problem?”

“He shot me when I was way ahead of him. It’s nothing - I just need a stimpak and I’ll be fine.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Tough little girl, ain’t ya.”

She put more weight on her left leg to give her other a moment of relief, and her breath hitched from the pulse of pain. “I can take care of myself.”

The corner of the man’s lips twitched in a smile. “I bet you can.”

Faith zipped up the duffel bag and hefted it into her arms. “I gotta go now. I gotta find somewhere to sleep before it gets dark.”

The man glanced away, and he bounced on his heels before standing up. “… My camp is nearby. Why don’t you stay there tonight? Got a nice comfy bed with your name on it. Some warm food, too. I can even get our doc to patch your leg up and give you some chems for the pain.”

Faith stared at him for a moment. “I… I have a knife, so if you try anything…”

The man chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s go.” He offered his arm to her, and she gripped his sleeve as they walked. “So you got a name?”

“Mick calls me Faith.”

“Faith, huh? They call me Vaultie.”

She glanced at the device on his arm - the soft green glow from the screen was almost comforting. “So what’s your real name?”

“… You can call me Vince.”

 

**ONE YEAR LATER**

 

Faith slid down the roof of the trailer into the Devil’s Gullet and was greeted by every member nearby. “Good haul?” one of them asked with a crooked grin.

“Always is in my hands,” she smiled, readjusting the straps of the duffle bags on her shoulders. Once she strode into the main area of the camp, Vince straightened up from leaning over a map with two others.

“Hey, kiddo,” he greeted with a smile.

“Watcha doin’?” she asked, putting the bags down near the table.

“We’re plannin’ a raid.”

She paused for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I’m gonna get some rest.”

“Sure.”

Faith might have put more attitude into her walk than necessary as she made her way to the shack, and Vince noticed. He appeared just moments after Faith sat down on the bed. “Hey,” she said simply.

Vince leaned against the wall and sighed tiredly. “Faith, we’re Raiders. We raid. Are you not graspin’ the concept?”

She huffed. “I get it, Vince. I just… Can’t you steal from, I don’t know… bad guys?”

“Faith…” He sat down next to her. “You know as well as I do that life is tough. Maybe even more since you’re actually growin’ up out here.” He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward so he could meet her eyes. “You gotta listen to me. Everyone out here, is out for themselves. It’s not just Raiders. Everyone is doing what they have to do to survive. Doin’ what they have to do for their families. Sometimes that means that you gotta be an asshole. Okay? The only difference between us and settlers or citizens is that we have the guts to do it. And we’re _happy_. Those other guys are wastin’ their lives away workin’ their farms and shovlin’ brahmin and bighorner shit. When you go out on jobs for us, don’t you feel… alive? Free?”

Faith shifted. “… Yeah.”

“And it’s not like we go out just to kill people. We give ‘em chances. You know that. If we get trespassers, we warn ‘em. We don’t open fire. We might not be good, but we ain’t evil.”

She leaned back on her hands. “I know. I’m just… not used to it.”

“And I get it, I do. It took me some time when I got outta the vault to get comfortable with it, too. But it’ll be okay. Promise.” He waited for a moment, assessing her expression. “Somethin’ else is bothering you. What is it?”

She lowered her eyes to the floor and opened her mouth, but a few moments passed before she spoke. “I killed someone. On my way back here.” Vince’s eyes fluttered closed. “I used my combat knife.”

“Faith, I… are you okay?”

She took a deep breath and shakily let it out. “His… his _eyes_ , Vince. He just kept staring up at me, after…”

“I was hopin’ I could protect you from that until you officially join up. Shit, I’m sorry, Faith. I shoulda been there with you. You shouldn’t have gone through that alone.”

“I tried to run, Vince, I really did. But he caught me, he pinned me down, tried to kill me, tried to... I couldn’t… I couldn’t—“

“I know, kiddo,” He put his hand on her knee, giving a comforting squeeze. “You did what you had to do.”

“But what if… What if I just tried harder to get away—“

“Hey.” He took her jaw in his grip and turned her to face him. “Do _not_ doubt yourself. Don’t dwell on your decisions. It’s kill or be killed out here, kiddo, remember that.” He let go of her jaw and her head turned down again. Vince stayed with her in silence, a comforting presence calming the uncertainty inside her.

 

**FIVE YEARS LATER**

 

Faith hopped on one leg as she yanked off her pants, stumbling sideways before steadying herself and quickly pulling off her shirt to be left in her shorts and cropped tank top. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Vince gestured to the chair and stood behind it. “Sit down.”

She did as he said, feeling a large hand bedraggle her hair. “Just do whatever you think’ll work for me.”

Vaultie started by cutting off the hair on one side of her head with a combat knife before carefully shaving it down, then dyed the rest of her hair with a permanent silver dye that their chemists had created, then cut the length to just below her ear. Next he smeared the dye over her eyebrows, then poured three buckets of water over her to wash off the excess dye. Finally, he took an old towel and dried her hair until it was damp.

“All done,” he announced. “You are now _officially_ one of the Cazadors.”

Faith grinned and bolted up from the chair to head out to the center of camp where everyone was waiting. She was met by cheers and howls, and they crowded around her in congratulations, some giving her playful shoves while others ran their fingers affectionately through her hair.

“All right,” Vince sighed. “So, you got the new hair style. Your appearance is up to Cazador standards. Now it’s time for your signature weapons. Come with me.”

She followed him into the gang’s armory. “Any suggestions, boss?”

“Sure do. I know you’re a sharp shooter. So…” He picked up a heavily modified .44 magnum pistol. “I had Hijack fix this for ya. Calls it ‘Fiend Killer’.”

Faith traded in her 10mm and took the new pistol in hand. “Just for me, huh? Thanks, Vince.”

“That’s not all. You need something for when things get up close and personal.” He tossed her a sawed off shotgun. “That’s ‘A Kick in the Head’.” Faith cocked a brow. “We know how much you like those old songs, so.” Faith straightened up with a slow inhale, then turned fully to Vince. “You’re runnin’ with the big guys now,” he told her. “No more small jobs.”

“Don’t worry,” Faith smiled. “I can keep up.”

He smiled back and ruffled her hair. “I know.”

 

**SIX YEARS LATER**

 

“Time’s up, princess.”

Faith tried desperately to push the Fiend off her, to wrench her wrists free from his grimy hands, but it was no use. “I’ll rip your fucking throat out,” she growled, baring her teeth.

Cook-Cook held her legs down with his own as he leaned over her, keeping both her wrists in one hand so he could grip her chin with his other. “Look at those pearly whites. Rare to see in a Raider. Then again, the Cazadors aren’t normal Raiders, are they.” Faith shook her head to get her chin out of his grip, and the Fiend took out his combat knife. “Shouldn’t have split off from your group. Oh, I’m gonna have _fun_ with you. How about some foreplay, huh?”

Faith struggled against him as the weapon neared her face, but froze when the tip of the blade touched the bridge of her nose. Her breathing was fast and ragged as it pressed into her skin, and she bit down a growl as it sunk in to scrape bone. Cook-Cook held her face still as he trailed the tip of the blade to dip below her eye and branch to the end of her cheek to curl up a bit, and he ended the cut with a snap of his wrist. With a hum he added a smaller score to branch out under the end of the incision.

“There we are,” he sighed, smearing the blood on her face with his fingers. He raked the digits through her hair to streak the silver strands with red. “I see the warnings the other Fiends leave. ‘Beware the Silver Hair’. You know what I think? That’s bullshit. Because if you really were so fearsome, you wouldn’t be under me right now. Blood smeared on your beautiful face, a gash in your flesh. But… you could use another one.”

This time he started between her eyebrows to run the blade down, and Faith held her breath as the tip curved around the bridge of her nose to pass the inner corner of her eye, continuing until it reached her cheek. “There we go!”

Faith spat into his eye. “Fuck you.”

Cook-Cook chuckled, wiping the saliva off. “Shouldn’t have done that. There goes the freedom of those pretty lips.” He bunched up a piece of cloth from his pocket. “I’m probably gonna kill ya before I give you your voice back, so any last words?”

Faith saw the figure appear from the doorway and relief lightened her chest. “Yeah.”

“And what are they, princess.”

She smiled. “Batter up.”

With that, Vince swung Lucille at Cook-Cook’s head before he could respond, shattering the Fiend’s skull. Faith cringed as the resulting bloody mess splattered on her face and shoulders. The crew leader grabbed her forearm and hoisted her up with a scowl. “What did I fucking tell you, Faith?” he asked harshly. “You don’t fucking split up from the group!”

Faith glanced behind him and saw Johnny rushing in with Hijack and Aviator. “What’s the big deal? I go off on my own all the time-”

“Not in the middle of a Fiend’s territory! This was Cook-Cook! If I hadn’t found you, he would’ve…” Vince trailed off, glancing from Faith to the dead Fiend and back again. “Let’s just get outta this shithole. We’re done here.” The others let the vaultie pass them before stepping closer to Faith.

“You okay?” Johnny asked, putting a gentle hand on her arm. Aviator took a cloth from her pocket and dabbed the gouge on Faith’s cheek to clean it of congealing blood.

“She’ll be fine,” the white-haired Raider assured, though her brows were furrowed with concern. “She always is.”

“Still,” Hijack sighed. “You shouldn’t have wondered off, Faith. You’ve heard what Cook-Cook does to his victims. What if we hadn’t found ya?”

Vince appeared in the doorway again. “What are you guys standin’ around for? Let’s go.”

The group did as he said, and he let them pass him, stopping Faith before she followed. “You sure you’re okay, Faith?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Vince shifted his weight, his expression uncertain. “… All right. All right.” He raked his fingers roughly through the roots of Faith’s hair and placed a kiss on her blood-smeared forehead before lightly shoving her head forward to get her walking. “Out. Go on.”

 

**FIVE YEARS LATER**

 

She felt like she was in a dream as she walked through the camp, her limbs heavy and vision blurred at the edges. Cazador members lay dead on the ground, strewn about the blood-spattered soil.

“Faith.”

A sound that woke her up. Her head jerked towards his voice, and she spotted Vince leaning against his shack, blood pooled around him. She was by his side in an instant, hands hovering over the wound in his side.

“Vince,” she mumbled, voice wavering. “Vince, what—“

“The Courier,” he bit out. “Finally came after us…” He bit back a sound of pain. “You shoulda seen him. He used mail as throwin’ stars, it was crazy.”

“Vince, this isn’t the time for jokes!”

“It’s always time for jokes.”

“I’ve got stimpaks, let me—“

“No.” He took her hands and held them. He was shaking, his grip weak. “No, it’s my time. Listen to me, okay? He’s gonna be gunnin’ for everyone who wasn’t taken down here. You need to leave. Leave the Mojave—“

“But I need to find everyone else, I can still-“

“You can’t save them, Faith. You’ll just get yourself killed. You have to leave. Go to the Commonwealth and find Vic, he’ll help you get settled. Then... run your own crew. Make it the best damn crew anyone’s ever heard of. Okay?” He squeezed her hands before letting them go, then detached his Pip Boy. “Now get outta here. take my Pip Boy and Lucille and go. You don’t need to see me die.”

“Fuck that. I’m not leaving you.”

“Faith—“

“No.” She sat down. “I’m with you till the end.”

He sighed - a wheezing, pained sound. “Fuckin’ stubborn.”

“One of the things you love about me, right?” Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, curving over her scar.

“Oh no, no, no,” he told her, lifting a hand to grip her jaw. It hurt to feel how weak his hold was. “No fuckin’ cryin’ right now, all right? Stop it.”

“I’m trying.”

“Well try harder!”

“Vince!” Despite everything, she laughed. A watery, choking giggle that forced a smile.

“There we go,” Vince grinned, tears welling in his own eyes. “That’s my girl.” Weakly he pulled her forward and kissed her forehead. “Love you, kiddo.”

“Love you too, Vince. I’ll make you proud.”

A breath spasmed out of him, maybe an attempt at a laugh, and he rested his head against the shack, closing his eyes. “Already have…”

With her palm to his cheek she soothed her thumb under his eye until she felt his body lose the tension his pain was causing, and his head weighed against her hand. Faith gently laid him down, planting one last kiss on his cheek before taking his Pip Boy and bat and leaving the camp.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, kid,” Ralph greeted, standing up from his seat at the counter. “Back so..." He trailed off, noticing her blood-soaked clothes. "Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?"

She swallowed hard passed the lump in her throat. “Everyone was…”

“Faith?” Mick called, walking from the back of the store.

She chose the simplest way to put it. “The Courier got them.”

“Shit,” Ralph whispered. “Even Vince?”

She nodded. "This is his blood."

Mick pulled her close, holding her while making sure to mind the bat attached to her back. “We’re so sorry, Faith. Shit, I can’t believe it.”

Ralph put a gentle and comforting hand on the raider’s head, burying his fingers in her hair while his palm pressed against the shaved side. “If you need anything, we’re here for you.”

“He told me to run my own gang,” she mentioned. “Told me to go to the Commonwealth to do it.”

“The ‘Wealth... He’s got a brother there, right? Victor?”

“Yeah. Wants me to look ‘im up."

The two men glanced at each other, and Mick pulled Faith back just enough to look at her. “Then we’ll make sure you’re all set for your trip. Fuck the discount - everything is on us this time.”

She wiped the tear streaks from her face. “What? Really?”

“As long as you don't mind us visiting once in a while,” Ralph added.

Faith smiled - or at least tried to. “Of course.”

“Then let’s get you cleaned and geared up. We got more ammo in, and a new shipment of plasma grenades, too. We know how you love your explosives.”

Mick put a hand on Faith’s back and led her to the hidden room. “And I can get that Pip-Boy resized to fit your arm.”

 

* * *

 

She found Vic’s place easily enough, a large sign declaring the Red Rocket a repair shop - “From radios to Power Armor”. Her stomach churned with unease as she eyed the man in the garage crouched in front of a damaged suit, working on one of the leg actuators. Once he stood to move on, he noticed her on the edge of the road.

“If you’re here to get somethin’ fixed up, I’m afraid I’m pretty booked right now,” he told her, wiping his hands with a dirty cloth as he leisurely walked towards her. Then his polite smile faded as he got a better look at her. He continued to approach, though slower. Finally he stood in front of her, and Faith took in a subtle, deep breath.

Vince didn’t talk about his brother much, though she knew Vic was two years older, and they often sent letters to each other. They looked similar enough - sharp eyes, smirk-worthy lips, gentle and handsome facial features, a strong nose and thick brows. His brown hair was swept back, graying just barely on the sides. Tall like Vince, broad shouldered, adorned in a bomber jacket and worn jeans.

“Faith.” Vic muttered after a moment of just staring.

“So you know who I am,” she responded.

He huffed out a laugh. “Read about you in over a dozen letters. You’re Vince’s pride and joy.” Even his voice was similar - thick and slightly throaty, effected by a unique lilting cadence. Something Vince had called 'a Brooklyn accent'.

“Was.”

He nodded. “Ah. Thought so.” His jaw clenched as he looked away, then he sighed and draped an arm over her shoulders, walking her towards the station. “C’mon, girl. Let’s talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Faith a board if you wanna check it out:
> 
> https://www.pinterest.com/elliebriann/fo4-faith/


	2. Chapter 2

**4 MONTHS LATER**

 

“Faith?”

“Yeah,” she called back, putting her comic down next to her. “In here.”

Vic appeared in front of the counter and smiled, placing a package down. “Hey, sugar plum. You finish that armor job?”

“I did,” she mumbled.

He narrowed his eyes and plucked the cigarette tucked behind his ear to stick it between his lips. “What’s that look for.” He sparked his lighter.

“He said didn’t have the caps, so he paid… another way… with me against the Power Armor.”

Vic sighed, smoke carried on the heavy breath. “And how’s that benefit me here, huh?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Exactly.”

“Which is why I picked his pocket to take the caps he didn’t have, plus a tip.” She took the repurposed purified water container out from her pocket and tossed it to him, and he caught it with a surprised chuckle.

“I’ve taught you well,” he grinned, emptying the caps onto the counter to count them. “Oh, this was outside when I got back. It’s from Mick and Ralph.”

Faith slid the package closer to her and ripped the duct tape off to open the flaps. Inside was a holotape, a jacket and a piece of paper. She picked up the letter first, reading it aloud. “Hey kid. Since you’re helpin’ out a greaser, we got you a jacket to match, plus a holotape of Mr. New Vegas’s track and a few extra songs. Love, Mick and Ralph.”

“I’m not a greaser,” Vic said around his cigarette. “The ‘Atom Cats’, those fuckers are greasers.”

Faith shot him an arguable expression as she pulled the leather jacket out of the box. On the back was printed, _Casino Lights Carry Me Home._

“A little big,” Vic criticized.

“I like it that way.” She shrugged the jacket on over her harness and was enveloped in a cozy warmth. “I’ll have to—“ She was cut off by a burst of feedback from her Pip Boy, and they both cocked a brow.

“What was that?” Vic asked, folding his arms over the counter as he sat down on one of the stools.

“Hold on.” Faith lifted her arm and switched to the radio screen, finding a broadcast titled ‘Nuka World’ listed with the three other stations.

“ _Hiya kids! Remember, Nuka-World is only open for a few more weeks in October. Come down and see me and Cappy one last time before buckling down for the winter. Don't forget to bring your empty bottle of Nuka-Cola, to get 50 dollars off at the gate. So hop aboard the Nuka-Express and come and see the whole Nuka-family while you still can.” The voice was switched to another, more quiet tone. “The Nuka-Express is accessible through the Nuka-World Transit Center, parking fees will apply. Prices are subject to change, due to end of season. Nuka-World, Nuka-Express, and the Nuka-Cola characters are all registered trademarks of the Nuka-Cola Corporation.”_

“Nuka-world,” Vic repeated. “Must be an old-world place.”

“Yeah… I’m gonna check it out. I’ll see you later.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Vic said, grounding his cigarette into the ashtray and turning on his seat to keep facing her. “Radio broadcast appearing out of nowhere? C’mon, it’s obviously a trap or somethin’.”

She shrugged, stuffing her new jacket into her pack before attaching it to the loop on the back of her harness. “And?”

“And…” He paused, then sighed in defeat. “All right, I’ll tag along.”

“What about the shop? I thought you were booked for half the week.”

“They can wait. Promised Vince I’d look after ya, and since you insist on walkin’ into trouble, I’m going too.” Her eyes fluttered closed at his name, couldn’t be helped, and Vic’s expression turned solemn. “You still holdin’ up okay?”

She gave him a smile. “Fine, Vic. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

“Gunners,” Vic sighed, crouched down near the entrance with Faith. The military-esque group stood clustered together as their captain addressed them. “They must’ve picked up the broadcast too. How d’you wanna play this?”

“By being reasonable and civil.”

He cocked a brow. “Really.”

“You kidding? Fuck no.” She pinned a plasma grenade and threw it at the center of the group, the men and women being turned to goo in moments from the close proximity of the blast.

“Nice throw,” Vic praised, standing up. “Might be more of them in the Transit Center, so be ready.”

“I’m always ready.” She led the way into the building, both of them stopping at the middle step when they spotted a man resting on the floor against an overturned nuka cola machine.

“Jesus. Shit. They’re gonna die,” he mumbled to himself, voice frayed and weak.

Faith glanced at Vic before continuing closer to the stranger. “What happened to you?” she asked him, not sounding very concerned.

“Raiders, that’s what. Those bastards have my family. You… you gotta help them.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“They fooled us… Big time. My family and I ran into some traders a while back… told us they knew a safe settlement at Nuka-World. But when we got there… Found out they were Raiders the whole time, just stringing us along. I managed to escape, but my wife and son are still back there. I wanted to get some help and go back for them, but didn’t count on taking a bullet.”

 _Not a drop of blood on ‘im._ “Well being the great and considerate person that I am, I guess I’ll put you out of your misery.” She drew her magnum and aimed it at his head.

“Wait, wait, wait!” he blurted, lashing his hand out for her to stop. “You got me. I’m not really hurt, okay? The Raiders back at Nuka World put me up to this. I lure people in. Slaves used in the market or for hard labor. I have to do it, or else Colter’ll…”

“How do I get there?” Faith asked.

He blinked at her. “You really wanna go there? Well, the fastest way is to take the Nuka-Express. It should still be up from when I used it to get here.”

She patted his shoulder as she passed him with Vic, and they boarded the monorail. Faith went to the control panel and leaned over the chair’s railing, groaning a strained noise as she stretched for the lever. The monorail lurched forward once she finally reached it, and a woman’s computerized voice came from the announcement speakers.

“ _Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor, mantengase alejado de las puertas._ ”

“And now, we enjoy the ride,” Vic said, leaning against the wall and lighting a cigarette while Faith climbed onto the seat.

“Sparking up in a monorail, that can’t be safe.”

“‘Neither is charging into a super mutant firefight or punching a Deathclaw in the face, but that didn’t stop you from doing both.”

“The Deathclaw had me pinned! What was I supposed to do, _not_ punch it?”

“ _Shoot it_.”

“Yeah, ‘cause that’d make a great story.”

He opened his mouth and shifted his weight, making a gesture with his hand like he was going to argue, but he stopped himself and simply took a drag from his cigarette.

Faith smiled and kicked her feet up on the railing.

 

* * *

 

“ _Hello! And on behalf on the Nuka-Cola Corporation, we’d like to welcome each and every one of you to the Nuka-Express Monorail._ ”

Faith opened her eyes when she heard Vic groan, both of them woken up by the obnoxiously cheerful voice. 

“My goddamn back,” Vic said, voice strained as he sat up from laying on the seats. “I’m suing.”

“I’m sure you’ll have their skeletons shaking with worry.” She looked out the broken window at the Mojave-like wasteland, and it almost made her feel nostalgic. She listened as the announcer continued speaking, directing her to observe the man-made mountain in the distance. She only looked away from the structure when static interrupted the voice.

“ _Well, look who learned the truth and still showed up. I guess Harvey played his cards right after all,”_ a man’s deep voice said, a slight accent hinting in the masculine and drawling tone. It reminded Faith of the old cowboy movies Vince would play on his Pip-Boy. _“I only got a minute, so listen and listen good. The name's Gage..._ Porter _Gage. And you’re heading straight into a death trap._ ”

Faith smiled.

“ _But if you somehow make it through alive, I have an interesting offer for you. In the meantime, have fun and put on a good show. I’ll be watchin’_.” His tone darkened in his last remark, and it sent a shiver up Faith’s spine. The monorail came to a stop at the station, and they stepped out. As soon as the doors closed behind them, another man’s voice came through the station announcement speakers.

“ _Attention all my favorite undesirables out there. It’s your favorite radio host, RedEye! Here to tell you that we got ourselves some fresh new meat to run the Gauntlet!_ ”

"Faith," Vic said warily. "That sounds like shit. Let's turn back right now. Okay?" Faith stared at him for a moment, then bolted for the stairwell that had The Gauntlet painted on the wall just passed the threshold. "Would ya just fuckin' listen to me for once!"

Without much thought she vaulted over the stairway railing and stumbled into the first room. She froze when she heard the machine-gun and laser turrets come to life, each one turning to target her.

“Faith, get down!” Vic’s warning was overlapped by the machines opening fire, and Faith dove behind a counter. With a shout to Vic to take cover, she took three grenades and blindly threw them at different points of the room. She heard the turrets being ripped apart by the explosions and sighed in relief when the firepower stopped.

“ _One of our new vics sure knows how to dodge some bullets,” RedEye announced. “Good thing that’s not all we got in store for them._ ”

“You okay?” Vic asked, jogging to her side.

“Fine. Stay close, okay?”

"You're the one who ran ahead."

They continued through a short makeshift maze, avoiding the traps as they did. When they reached three red doors, the announcer spoke again.

“ _It’s decision time! All doors lead to death. Some just slower than others_.”

"Okay, we need to think about--" He trailed off when Faith swung the first door open. “Oh.” He blinked in surprise before safely following her through the corridor. They turned a corner to head down a ramp to the next room, and the geiger counter on Faith’s Pip Boy went crazy as they neared radiation barrels, and she stopped.

"You good?" Vic asked, putting a gentle hand on her back. 

"Fine, let's just hurry passed them." Vic let her go first, and they both sprinted by.

“ _I think we all know who the leader is. Someone thinks she’s a real ‘tough gal’, eh? Well the Gauntlet ain’t through with her yet_.”

After going down a few stairs, they reached a storage room filled with turrets. At the center was a Jangles symbol toy. Due to Faith’s absolute hatred for the creepy little shits, she shot its head off as soon as its eyes lit up. A moment after, the turrets on the shelves powered down.

“ _Aw, what? Call my crazy, but I think our vic’s got something against fun._ ”

The next room held another makeshift tunnel filled with traps, and the boys followed her through, taking wide steps whenever she did.

“ _Time for things to get dangerous! Let’s see if she survives what’s next…_ ”

Faith’s shoulders slumped at the sight of the access tunnels - mines were strewn everywhere, including under the mostly-intact tanker trucks. Instead of being careful, she threw several plasma grenades towards her path to set off the mines. Once they were all taken care of, her and Vic sprinted through, smiling at the announcer’s disappointment.

“ _What?! Is this some kind of joke_?”

The next room was a flooded alcove with a thin plank walkway leading to the next door. Faith ran across to the stone pillar at the center, cringing at the sound of the planks falling behind her. She rushed to the door and bumped into it with a quiet thump, then looked over her shoulder at Vic.

“Door locked?” he called from the other side.

Faith tried it. “Yeah.”

“All right, work on it while I get across.”

“Got it.” She did as he said, body pressed against the door as she slid a bobby pin into the lock. She glanced behind her and saw Vic already balancing on the center pillar. The man had a strange amount of finesse - even taught her a few tricks - how to land properly from far heights, how to climb obstacles and rough terrain, how to be swift in fist fights.

The lock clicked, and Vic stumbled into her back. “Woah,” she mumbled, feeling his crotch bump against her ass. “Buy a lady a drink first, huh?” She swung the door open, and Vic huffed out a laugh as he followed her through.

“C’mon, sugar plum, we both know it doesn’t take that much to get you into bed.”

She reached up and gripped his jaw. “You think you’re funny, don’t you.” A cocky smirk in response, and she gave his cheek a gentle slap before heading into the next room.

The heavy door slammed shut behind her, closing them off from each other. “Vic?”

“Faith!” came his muffled response, a faint thud from his fist pounding on the metal. A hiss of air and a strange smell suddenly filled the room, and she coughed sporadically.

“ _Someone thinks she’s clever? Time for a little reality check. Let’s see if the vic can kill the gas before the gas kills her._ ”

Faith took out her bandana and wrapped it around her head to cover her mouth and nose, then hurried to turn the yellow valves to turn off the gas. When she realized that wasn’t enough, she quickly hacked into the security terminal and opened the doors, the gas escaping. Vic was by her side again almost immediately.

"You all right? Breathin' okay?" he questioned, a gentle hand on her bicep.

"Fine, Vic," she breathed. "Let's keep moving."

The next door finally led to daylight - a large shed with chain-linked fencing as a ceiling. 

“ _Goddamn, look who’s in the homestretch! Time for a little audience participation!_ ”

Following the announcement, uniquely armored Raiders appeared above and took potshots at them. Faith grunted as the bullets hit her jacket, but she otherwise didn’t give much reaction as she drew her pistol. She easily shot down two Raiders, sending a bullet into each of their heads.

“Sh-she actually killed them!” a female Raider exclaimed, and Faith smiled as she sprinted for the next door.

They finally reached the end of the Gauntlet - a large arena. An alarm sounded, and they headed up the stairs. “ _Well I’ll be damned. You know what that sound means! Get your ass down to Cola-Cars. The main event’s about to begin!_ ”


	3. Chapter 3

Faith approached the security door at the end of the catwalk, but stopped when a voice came through the intercom.

“Got me wired up yet, Gage?”

“Yeah, boss.”

"A cockney accent," Vic said in surprise, and Faith just spared him a confused glance, she never understood how he and Vince knew the name of so many accents, before turning her attention to the two men below in the arena. One was suited in unique power armor, and the other was closing a panel on the armor's back.

“Finally. Now go shut off that damn alarm.”

“All right. I’m on it.” He glanced up at Faith before heading into a small office, closing the door behind him and accessing a terminal.

“Hmph. Now where…” the ‘boss’ turned to look up at Faith. “Ah. There’s my next victim now. Heh. Don’t look like much. Here’s a quick rundown on how this works. You go stock up, make yourself… presentable. Then we’re gonna give these folks a show. A show where I decorate these walls with your lovely brains. Thanks to this suit, I’m the only one that wins this fight. Period. You think you’re hot shit gettin’ this far? Think again. All right, Gage. Let her through. Somethin’ tells me I’m really gonna enjoy this.”

“Just her?” Vic called down, making Faith jolt in surprise.

“She took the lead through the Gauntlet. You can watch from the sidelines like everyone else.”

Vic followed Faith down the stairs. “I don’t like this.”

“It’ll be fine,” Faith assured. "Not my first fight against a tin can."

“ _It’s almost time! After a run like that, this ought to be the best slaughter yet!_ ”

They stepped into the gory locker room, and the same voice from the monorail came through the intercom across from the doorway. “ _All right, listen the hell up. If you wanna make it out of this alive, I only got a minute._ ”

Faith walked over to the speaker and pressed the button to speak. “You’re the guy from the monorail, right?”

“ _Yeah, that's me. I’m also the guy that’s gonna get you out of this alive._ ”

“Yeah? I’m guessing you aren’t gonna do it out of the kindness of your heart.”

A laugh carried on a huff of breath. “ _No, but I ain’t just doin’ it for myself. You get outta this alive, and everyone’ll be happy. Well… almost everyone._ ”

She shifted her weight. “… All right. I’m listening.”

His smile was audible. “ _My kinda gal. Look, you made it this far, you obviously got skill. But this fight coming up is rigged. Overboss Colter… his Power Armor’s set up to draw energy from the electric grid in the arena. Damn thing’s invincible. You name it, someone’s tried it - miniguns, grenades. Not a scratch._ ”

Vic groaned, and Faith leaned over the intercom. “If he’s invincible how am I gonna beat him?”

“ _I stashed a weapon in one of the lockers. Get it._ ”

Vic looked for her, visibly cringing before tossing the plastic gun to her. “A fucking water gun?” she said harshly.

“ _Yeah, yeah, I know what it looks like. You’re just going to have to trust me_.”

“You know how stupid I’d need to be to trust a Raider I don’t know?”

“ _Listen, I wouldn’t send you like this if it wasn’t gonna work. I’m not_ that _big of a dick._ ”

“If this Power Armor is as invincible as you say, a little water isn’t gonna do shit, even if his suit is electrically charged.”

“ _I ain’t sayin’ he’s just gonna drop dead. You gotta put in effort. Just get in the fuckin’ arena and kill ‘im, all right? It’s time._ ”

The door swung open, and Vic draped his arm over Faith's shoulders as they walked through. "You be careful out there, girl. This fucker ain't run-of-the-mill."

"Good, that'd be boring."

"Just don't get killed, all right?"

"Well, there goes my initial plan." He gently shoved her head with a whispered _smart ass_ , and she smirked.

They stood in front of the plexiglass and looked out into the arena. “All right!” the Overboss shouted. “Disciples! Are you ready for blood?”

A large group chanted, “Death! Death! Death! Death!”

“And the Pack! Are you ready for things to get wild?”

In response, other Raiders clung to the chain-link fence separating them from the arena and pounded their fists on it, cheering and howling, some climbing up a few feet.

“Operators! Are you ready to see me notch another kill?”

The group answered with tamed but loud applause.

Colter turned to Faith. “And you? Are you ready to die?”

Faith smiled. “All set.”

Colter squeezed his fists. “Let’s do this!”

Faith ran through the door as soon as it swung open and fired the water gun at Colter’s suit, and waves of electricity surged up his suit before leaving the charged Power Armor in a large burst.

“What’s happening? What is this?!” Colter exclaimed, his temporarily-powerless suit keeping him stuck in place like it was rusted. Faith sprinted into action, climbing onto the suit and up the pole that kept it fixed to the the ceiling. She found the latch and undid it, detaching the suit from the power grid. Faith gripped the top of the pole and swayed her body forward, the momentum pulling the pole down and taking Colter down in the process. The Overboss landed on his back and shouted obscenities while the crowd went wild. Faith came into view and took off the Overboss’s helmet, then stood on his chest and grabbed Lucille.

“Batter up!” she announced with a bright grin, and after three slow but strong swings, Colter was dead.

“ _Holy shit!_ ” RedEye breathed. “ _I don’t… I don’t even know what this means! Colter, man, he’s out! Gage, what the hell just happened?_ ”

Faith’s eyes darted from the crowd to the Raider in the booth, and she saw his grin disappear with a quick lick of his lips as he leaned into the microphone. “You saw it. We all saw it,” he responded. “Colter’s dead. We got ourselves a new Overboss. Now everyone get the hell outta here. I’ll show 'er around.”

The crowd started to file out of the seats, and the door swung open to allow Vic through. He strode towards her with a grin and pulled her into a hug, swaying side to side. "Atta girl! Putting my teachings to use!"

"That was..." She huffed out an excited breath. Then they both turned to the man in the booth, glancing back at each other before approaching.

“I’m not keen on admitting I’m wrong,” Faith greeted him. “But I’m not above it either. The gun definitely helped.”

“I wish I had a better look at his face when the suit shorted out,” Gage smiled. “Look, I get that you have no idea what’s going on and everything is comin’ at ya real fast, but you need to listen. Takin’ out Colter wasn’t just a last minute decision. It’s somethin’ a few of us here have been workin’ on for a while. Now that he’s actually gone, we got ourselves a vacancy in the Overboss department. And guess what? You just got the job. All I’m askin’ is that you trust me on this and give it a shot. I swear it’ll be worth it.”

For a moment, Faith could only stare in surprise. She’d been looking for months for a suitable crew, and now it was just being handed to her? 

She leaned forward on the window, splaying her arms above her head on the glass. “I'll bite. Who would I be in charge of?”

Gage mimicked her stance, though his arms were positioned higher due to his superior height. “The Operators, the Disciples, and the Pack. Not your typical Raider gangs, but they don’t exactly play nice with each other. Thanks to Colter, this place is a powder keg just waitin’ to blow. Another wrong move, and there could be a blood bath. You proved tonight that you might just be the right woman fro turn this shitshow around. What d’you say?”

She glanced away for a moment, then straightened up, Gage following suit. “All right. I’m in. But if this is a trap, I’m taking a lot of you down with me. You particularly.”

Gage smiled. “Look at you, fittin’ in already. Give me a sec to open the door and I’ll hand you a map.”

“I just need a minute to say goodbye to my friend here.”

"You sure you don't want me backin' you on this?" Vic asked as she led him a few feet away. "Make a wrong move and they'll eat you alive."

"This is my chance, Vic. You know how long I've been looking for candidates. We've traveled all over the 'Wealth and I haven't found one Raider who I wanna recruit. Now I have a chance to be in charge of three crews in a massive _fortified_  encampment."

He shifted his weight, glancing sidelong at Gage. "I'd still feel better if you let me stick with you."

"I need to do this on my own. Just trust me, all right? I can handle this."

His expression softened. "I know you can. Just... come back to me in one piece, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay. Have a safe trip back." He roughly raked her hair back and kissed her forehead, then went on his way.

“Here,” Gage handed her an old map as she stepped into the booth. “I know you can probably find your own way around, but just in case.”

“Thanks,” Faith smiled. She looked up at him, and now without the murky glass between them she could see more of his features. Tanned, weathered skin, sharp jawline, purple shading under his visible eye from restless sleep. That eye scanned over her, assessed her, and she cleared her throat.

His gaze darted back up to meet hers. “You a Vault Dweller?”

“Hm? Oh, no. The Pip-Boy belonged to the boss of my old crew.”

His brows furrowed. “You’re a Raider?”

“Surprised?”

“You don’t really look the part is all.”

She smiled. “We took care of ourselves. Each other.”

“So why’d you leave?”

“They were wiped out while I was on a job. Some courier was picking off the Mojave Raider gangs and he went after my crew. He left my boss alive but he died from his injuries shortly after I got back.”

Gage cringed. “Shit… Sorry.”

“Yeah. Me too. Anyway, I’ll see you in a bit. I’m gonna look around in here first.”

He nodded. “Sure. See ya soon.”

 

* * *

 

Gage strode through the streets towards Fizztop, the new boss on his mind. _Colter’s gonna be rollin’ in his fuckin’ grave, havin’ a small thing like that take ‘im down…_

He had taken a moment to catalogue her features when she was in front of him - Silver hair shaved on the side, eyes the color of steel, tanned skin, plump lips, fucking amazing tits only held by a deteriorating bra and harness strap.

_Fuckin' stunner. Even with those scars on ‘er face... Wonder how she got those. Doesn’t look like it could’ve been made by someone who got in a swipe with a knife. At least not the curved one. Too detailed._

His brows furrowed. _Feel like I’m forgettin’ somethin’…_ Realization hit him, and his eyes fluttered closed. _How ‘bout her fuckin’_ name _._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're coming from ValentineVibrations.tumblr you might recognize a scene in this chapter 'cause I posted it as a mini smut fic. It was originally written for this fic anyway but I posted it alone 'cause I felt like there wasn't enough love for Gage on the blog, which I obviously had to fix ;) 
> 
> \- Ellie
> 
> (also if you're a guest and wanna comment about this fic you can reach me at my personal blog wildwasteland.tumblr, 'cause I'm just a mod at VV)

By the time Faith made it to Fizztop, she was starting to think she’d been given more than she could handle. The largest amount of members her crew ever got to was 20. With three different gangs, all decently sized, she was faced with well over a hundred. And that was just what she was met with outside - she hadn’t even ventured into any territories.

She tossed the nuka cherry she had found and entered the lift, punching the button with a sigh. Gage was waiting for at the top.

“Welcome home, Overboss,” he greeted, smiling when she stepped off the platform. “Place is yours now. I hope you like the look - Colter had some peculiar tastes.”

She nodded, scanning the room. “It’s not too bad. Mannequins have to go, though. My name’s Faith, by the way.”

He clasped her offered hand firmly in his. “Good to meet ya. I’ll be your right-hand man from now on - my talents are best put to use helpin’ a new Overboss get all this shit under control. You get me?”

Faith snorted a laugh. “What sort of ‘talents’ would you say you have, Gage.”

The man smirked, and she knew that an obvious joke had flashed into his mind. “Aside from being a good shot and havin' a foul mouth? I’ve run with gangs nearly my whole life. I know how Raiders think, what they’re after. And how to use that to your advantage. Trust me, I’m in this just as much as you are. Now let’s take a step back and talk big picture, okay? Nuka World is huge, built like a goddamn fortress. You run this, the world is yours. We had a good head start on it. A lot of work went into gettin’ the Disciples, the Operators, and the Pack to work together, but we got here. About a year ago we push in through the front gate, take over Nuka Town. Get these traders under our thumb. And then, well, Colter got lazy. He was content to sit on his ass, never bothered putting in the effort to finish takin’ over the park. The gangs got restless, started pissin’ each other off. It was… is, a real mess.”

She gave him an assuring smile. “I can make this work. I’ve always been a good mediator.”

“Yeah? I sure as hell hope so. Look, I know these gangs - I’ll help you. Okay? Walk you through everything. First thing you gotta do is get the gangs behind ya. Without them supporting you, you’re not gettin’ shit done. You don’t have to trust ‘em. Hell you don’t even have to like ‘em. But you need them to respect you enough to follow you.”

“Have any advice for how I should go about it?”

He thought for a moment. “… Yeah, all right. The Disciples like violence - the bloodier the better. Tell them they’ll get plenty of it. The Operators are mostly in it for the money. They get promised caps, they’ll listen to ya. The Pack… hell, I don’t know. They follow whoever they think is the strongest. Show some teeth, I guess. Look, technically you’re already the new Overboss, right? That’s like, half the work done right there. Just meet the leaders. Talk with ‘em. Flex your muscles a little. Show ‘em you mean business.”

“Okay. I’ll meet with them first thing tomorrow.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be around here if you need me. My room’s just inside, along with the bathroom and shower if you need ‘em.”

“I could use a shower,” Faith sighed. "Feelin’ filthy after running through the Gauntlet.”

 

  
She walked through the apartment and passed the small bedroom she assumed was Gage’s, then entered the decently sized bathroom. Old but clean towels were stacked near the sink. She stripped off her new jacket and her harness before sliding off her underclothes, then placed them all on the shelf. She tuned into Nuka World Radio on her Pip Boy, then removed it and placed it on the edge of the sink.

RedEye’s voice came through as Faith stepped into the shower. The water was freezing, but she was used to bathing in lakes of the same temperature. “ _I didn't vote for this broad! How come she gets to be Overboss? I mean, hell... If I'd known they were looking for somebody, I'd have thrown my name in that hat, you know what I'm saying? Well, whatever. I can't wait to see what our new leader has planned. Can't be any worse than Colter, right? At least she’s hotter._ ”

Faith ran her fingers through the roots of her hair as the water poured down. _Wonder if Vince would consider it cheating if he knew I was just handed the position as boss instead of rounding up my own crew. Shit, can I really take charge over three gangs? And will they really just fall in line? If someone had just replaced Vince, none of the Cazadors would listen. But then again, he was a good leader. Colter sounds like he was shit at the job._

She cleaned the fluorescently white eyeliner from under her eyes, then swiped over her cheeks, cleaning off the smudges of dirt. Her fingers lingered on the scars, and the memory of that day flashed into her mind, followed by her crew. Their friendly touches, the passing smiles and winks, playful shoving and rough hands bedraggling her hair. Arms draped over her shoulders, some large and muscled, others slim and soft. Booming laughter, battle taunts.

Their dead bodies strewn across Devil’s Gullet, blood pooled in the desert soil.

Faith let out a distressed sigh, shaking away her thoughts and turning off the water. She grabbed a towel and vigorously dried her hair as if it would erase the memory from her head. She yanked on her cropped tank top, then took her old shorts out of her pack and shimmied them on. _Need a distraction. Need a distraction. Need a distraction._

When she stepped out of the bathroom her eyes locked onto Gage.

The man was across the way in his room, back turned to the open doorway. He tossed his armor to the corner along with his dirty, blood stained tank top with a sigh. Toned muscles shifted under his tanned skin as he undid his belt and draped it over a chair, and fuck if that wasn’t the best distraction around.

 

* * *

 

Gage heard the bathroom door open and a pack drop to the floor, so he turned around to see the new Overboss stalking towards him.

“Hey Boss, there something—?“ he cut himself off when the woman grabbed his face and pulled him down into a firm kiss. His first reaction was to throw his hands up like he was surrendering, but when she raked her nails down his bare chest they found her waist, gliding over her skin to the flanks of her back.

He couldn’t remember the last time he actually _kissed_ someone - her lips were searing against his, and as Gage walked her across the room he could hear a voice in his mind chanting _bad idea, bad idea, bad idea,_ but goddamn this woman was a stunner and he could taste nuka cherry on her tongue, and the gasp that she sucked in when her back hit the wall set a fire inside him, made his blood thrum.

Her hand pried between their bodies and undid Gage’s belt with surprising adeptness to slide down his jeans, and it was almost embarrassing how quickly he thrust into her fist when she gripped his hardening cock.  

“Shit,” she hissed, and Gage couldn’t help but choke out a laugh because if anyone’s in a position to be cussing it’s him. But instead he tilted his head down and put his lips to her neck, kissing and biting as her hand stroked him nice and slow. 

“Porter,” she moaned, her free hand raising to rake fingers across his scalp and he was suddenly _very_ glad he decided to tell her his first name, because hearing it said with the warm smoke of her voice sent a bolt of arousal through him like nothing ever had. He stepped away when the Overboss yanked down her shorts, and he was barely able to wait for her to get them passed her ankles, lifting her up by her thighs and leaving the shorts hanging off one foot. Her legs wrapped around him and he roamed a hand up her waist and ribcage to push her shirt over her breasts. She ground against him, sliding his cock against her folds and fuck she was already so _wet_.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” her voice was frayed and desperate and so fucking hot, and the noise she made when he finally slid into her was almost devastating. Gage hooked her legs over his arms and supported her with his hands on her ass, and thank fuck this woman was flexible because her thighs were pressed against her body and her back was still arching off the wall, her shoulder blades scraping against the chipping wallpaper.

“Baby girl,” Gage croaked, mentally scolding himself because he meant to say ‘boss’, he really did. But the way her body went limp for a moment and how tightly she clenched around him was promising. “Sweetheart… honey… _Fuck_ …”

She captured his lips in another kiss, her whimpers and moans lost in his mouth. But Gage still heard how they heightened in pitch, noticed how her nails clawed deeper into his jaw. 

So he supported her on one arm and gripped her hair to wrench her head back. “Nuh-uh, I wanna hear you.”

Her head fell back against the wall. “ _Porter,_  Oh, shit—!”

“That’s it, baby.” He moved his hand from her hair to give attention to her clit, his thrusts getting faster and harder.

“Yes! God, yes!” She growled out a moan, and the feeling of her coming around him was nearly maddening, the way she tightened around him and how she rolled her hips to meet his thrusts. Gage stopped moving altogether and leaned back, just watching her fuck herself on his cock.

When she finished riding out her orgasm she draped herself over him, her lips to his neck. “C’mon, cowboy.”

He breathed out a laugh and started to move again, and it only took a few more thrusts to reach his own end, his cum spurting against the wall. They both stilled for a moment, the Overboss’s chest heaving against Gage’s as she caught her breath.

“So,” Gage mumbled as he gingerly lowered her legs from his waist. “Probably a bad idea, right?”

A laugh bubbled up from her throat as she tugged her tank top down over her chest, and it was a sound that Gage liked a little too much. “Oh, I dunno. I thought it was pretty damn great.” She shimmied her shorts back up, and Gage watched her wriggle a little more enthusiastically than necessary. Though he wasn’t complaining.

She hummed thoughtfully and reached up to sooth her thumb over his jaw where her nails had dug in particularly deep. “Might wanna use a stimpak. I did a bit of a number on you, and I think it’s better if we don’t have people talking.”

“It ain’t out of the normal for me to get laid, Boss,” he countered.

“Mm, but on the same night you get a new Overboss?”

He thought about that for a moment, then shrugged with a nod - she had a point.

A pat to his cheek, and she smiled. “Night, Gage.”

He watched her ass as she walked away, wondering if there were reddened spots where his fingers had dug in. “Sleep tight, Boss.” 

 

* * *

 

Faith slumped down onto Colter’s queen sized bed, feeling sated and relaxed. She couldn’t remember having a single round like that with anyone - Old Ben, Santiago, Swank, Beatrix, NCR boys, not even the Gamorrah whores - and they were _skilled_. Maybe it was the excitement from the past hour, residual adrenaline from running the Gauntlet. It was almost embarrassing how desperately she started moving when she came. But the man had stopped, what was she supposed to do? Wait? That wasn't happening.

Maybe it was just the way he was built. Towering height, sharp jawline, broad, thick shoulders, large biceps, muscled chest and abdomen, sturdy waist, a fucking _glorious_ cock - deliciously thick and _heavy_ , and he just kept hitting that sweet spot inside her, incessantly so.

If that wasn’t enough his visible eye was damn pretty, too. And his teeth were nearly brilliant when considering they were in the mouth of a Raider. Come to think of it his lips were delightfully plump, too—

Faith groaned and turned onto her side. _Enough. Just go to sleep in the comfortable feeling of afterglow and stop fawning._

_But… why had I instigated it in the first place…? Was something… The son of a bitch fucked my troubles out of me._

 

* * *

 

Gage jolted awake with a quick breath through his nose, and scrubbing at his face with both hands it took him a moment to remember what had happened. _Colter’s dead, his replacement is hot as all hell and I fucked her against the wall last night. Right._

He hoped to God that she wasn’t the type to act awkward after sleeping with a stranger. But keeping the possibility in mind he dressed slowly, taking out a less-bloodstained tank top and and pair of worn pants, leaving his armor forgotten for now. He made his way to the balcony doors and hesitated before pushing them open.

It seemed that the new Overboss was very much a morning person.

She moved along to the upbeat song, cleaning up after cooking what must have been breakfast. “And they sing, oh, ain’t ya glad you’re single,” she sang, booted feet moving back and forth, “and that song ain’t so very far from wrong~” 

Gage quickly rubbed his hand over his mouth to wipe away the grin and walked further onto the balcony. "Mornin' Boss."

She gave him a smile. “Mornin’. Was just about to head out to speak with the gang bosses. There’s breakfast for you in the fridge if you want it.” Gage cocked a brow. “Vic's great company but he can’t cook to save his life. I’m used to making a meal for two.”

“‘Vic’?”

“The guy who followed me through the Gauntlet.” She grabbed her sawed-off shotgun and slid it into the holster right below the small of her back. “See you soon.”

“Hold on,” Gage said before even thinking much about it. “I’ll come with ya. Wanna see how you deal with ‘em.”

“Oh. All right.” She waited for him to get on the lift before pressing the button. “Guess we’ll go to the Disciples first, since they’re the closest.”


	5. Chapter 5

Nisha was all scary facade and weak threats. But as the Raider boss spoke, Faith could only focus on the helmet covering her eyes.

“Fuck this up, and I will kill you,” Nisha finished. Faith stared for a moment until Gage nudged her.

“Right,” Faith responded. “Circling back around… how do you see?” She heard a choked sound come from Gage, and Nisha cocked her hip.

“Around here, I don’t need to,” she answered vaguely.

“Hm. Ominous. Okay, Nisha, I’ll make my side of this conversation much shorter. Threats and promises? They don’t mean a damn thing. What matters is actions, because they get results. So unless you go ahead and stab me with that dagger on your waist, that whole speech you just went through to try and intimidate me was just a waste of breath. It’s been a pleasure, Nisha. I’ll be seeing you.”

Gage followed her out. “So, that’s not a fantastic start with Nisha.”

“No? I think it could have gone a lot worse.”

“That’s… true. So who do you wanna see next?”

 

* * *

 

The door guard moved out of Faith’s way. “Mags’ll wanna talk with you, Overboss,” he told her. “She’s right inside. Normally she’d have me frisk visitors, but you get special treatment. Go on in.”

Faith smiled and gave his arm a gentle squeeze as she passed him. Mentally she scolded herself - it was something she did with her old crew. Friendly touches and occasional playful shoves were common. By the way this Raider blinked at her in surprise, that wasn’t the case for this particular crew. So she hurried into the Parlor to avoid any questions as to why she had so casually touched him.

She walked through the first room and into the stage area, noticing the glances as she made her way to the Operators’ leader. “Well, I suppose we all owe you for putting down Colter,” Mags greeted with a friendly smile.

“Man was an idiot,” the man next to her mumbled. “Made us all look bad.”

“Heh. A clown, stuck in his own little car. I guess we can take some police in the fact that someone finally gave him what he deserved. I want to know… what did you feel as you did it? When you brought that walking pile of human garbage to his knees. Or… back.”

“Kinda thrilling,” Faith smiled. “Especially on the way down from the ceiling.”

“You definitely kill in style, Overboss. I’m Mags, and this is my brother William.”

“Pleasure,” the man nodded.

“Along with our co-conspirator Lizzie, we run this crew. Call ourselves the Operators. You’ll come to understand soon enough that we are the only gang you should be backing around here.”

“The only one? Not gonna happen. Though I _do_ like you. Have any ideas to what parks you want?” That got her surprised looks from the siblings.

“Yes, actually,” Mags answered. “Galactic Zone for its proximity to Nuka Town, and Dry Rock Gulch for its saloons.”

“Because saloons are a lot like parlors,” Faith realized. “All right. Deal.”

“If you wanna throw in another park for us, we won’t object,” William piped up. Faith only offered him a smile as her answer.

“I’ll see you two around.”

“Of course, Overboss,” Mags smiled. “Feel free to make yourself at home around The Parlor.”

 

“So you might’ve noticed there’s five parks,” Gage mentioned as they left for the Amphitheater.

“Yeah,” Faith mumbled. “That did stick out to me. Take a guess on who’s gonna get the short end.”

“I wouldn’t go deciding that just yet, Boss. You still gotta meet Mason.”

The man from the transit station wandered up to them. “Hey, boss,” he greeted, his voice weak and shy. “Just wanted to say, uh… no hard feelings. All right?”

Faith didn’t know why, but she already felt a soft spot for him. “It’s okay,” she told him with a smile. “I get it.”

“Thank God,” Harvey breathed. “If it’s any consolation, I’m glad you made it. I lost my real family when Colter and his gangs took this place from us. Now, these traders are all I have left. They’re my family now. Every time Colter sent me out to lure people into the Gauntlet, I didn’t have a choice. I had to do it or he’d kill someone I cared about. I’m just… sorry you had to get caught up in all this.”

“It’s all right, Harvey,” she assured, her voice soft. “I understand.”

The trader smiled. “Good to hear, boss… Never figured I’d find myself in this situation before. I thought for sure I’d be a goner. Well, better get back to it.”

Faith put a gentle hand on his shoulder as she passed him. “Stay safe, Harvey.”

Gage followed by her side as she walked off. “Can I just say, your suddenly apparent gentle nature ain’t reassurin’.”

“They’ll work better if they aren’t cowering,” Faith countered. “They need to believe they’re in a good place. I know Nuka World depends a lot on its traders, and it’s bad for business if they’re miserable and terrified. People don’t wanna make a deal with someone who’s always looking over their shoulder.”

“That’s… huh. Never thought of it like that.”

Faith smiled. “Not everything’s about intimidation.”

 

* * *

 

The Amphitheater hit her with a wave of nostalgia. The vibrantly colored hair, booming laughter from loud conversations, lights strung up to dot the air above them, the allover sense of camaraderie and carefree attitudes.

“You okay, Boss?” Gage asked in slight amusement. “You’re gettin’ all starry eyed.”

“I think I’m gonna like the Pack,” she said with a smile. “C’mon.” Passing by one of the Pack members she absentmindedly put a friendly hand on his bicep. Once she realized, she was worried he would shrug her off with a dirty glare, but instead he gave her a quick smile before turning back to the woman he was talking to.

With a smile of her own Faith approached Mason, letting the Pack member he was speaking with breeze pass her before she stepped closer to the throne.“Now that I get a closer look at ya, not sure I’m buyin’ this new Overboss thing,” Mason mentioned, nodding towards Gage as a silent hello.

“You gonna be a problem I need to solve?” Faith asked calmly, her confidence greatly reduced when the Pack leader stood to tower over her.

“Slow down there, boss lady. We’re just gettin’ to know each other. Name’s Mason - the Pack’s Alpha. This here’s our side of town. You might be Overboss, for now, but I’m the boss of the Pack. And it’s gonna stay that way. As long as you don’t go forgettin’ that, we’re gonna be fine.”

She gave him a smile. “Let’s work together, big guy. I’m not interested in ruining your gig.”

He cocked a brow. “If that ain’t a lie, then things might end up all right between us. Look, it ain’t like anyone’s broke up about Colter. Just figured on his replacement being… well… different. But Gage says you’re the boss now, so… You’re the boss.”

“So _you_ don’t wanna be Overboss?”

“If I thought the other gangs would go along, yeah. I’d run this place in a heartbeat. Might have to, if you turn out to be a turd.” Faith smiled at that. “Least it ain’t Mags Black or that freak Nisha. Besides, you can’t possibly be worse than Colter.”

Faith crossed her arms. “Colter was weak. Why’d you follow him at all?”

“Been wondering that ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, Colter was definitely Overboss. Not a man to mess with. And things were good in the beginning. Real good. But that was a year ago. Colter got soft, wanted to ‘take stock’ in what we achieved.”

“So what is it you want?”

“Caps, action. Something! Anything that’s more than this sitting around we’ve been doing for the last year. Sure this place beats living in the shitholes we had out there, but it ain’t the palace of caps we signed up for. Ain’t none of us happy, not even the Disciples. And they’re normally a chipper bunch so long as they're drenched in blood. Things were goin’ to hell fast, but Gage put the breaks on that. Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. You gonna do right by the Pack? I hear you been talkin’ to the other gangs.”

 _Time to assert a little dominance over the Alpha, right?_ Her voice lowered to a calm but menacing tone. “Be a good dog and do what you’re told. Or you’ll be put down.”

Mason’s eyes widened. “Woah there, boss.” He lowered his voice. “Not in front of my guys, all right?”

Her response came easily. “We can take it somewhere private, if you’re into that.”

Mason's eyes widened, and Faith could’ve sworn she heard Gage choke on his own spit. “I, uh…” the Alpha mumbled, eyes darting over Faith’s body. “… You mean that, Boss?”

“You’re big. I like big. So yes. I’ll call for you soon. You don’t show up, that’s fine. Understandable. Now what were you saying? Not in front of your guys?”

He shook his head clear. “Right. You got enough to worry about without a dominance struggle inside the Pack to deal with, boss. You know what? I think we’re not so different, me and you. I want you to have this. Consider it a token of our mutual understanding. And respect.” He took a painted handmade sniper rifle from the side of his throne and gave it to her. “Made this baby for myself, but I can always make a new one.”

Faith took it with a smile. She could use a sniper rifle - she didn't have a scoped weapon yet. She looked up at Mason and felt her chest lighten, her body swaying in the slightest way. “Y’know, I knew a Raider just like you. We called ‘im Hijack. Big guy, real tough. Looked like he could tear someone in half. But he was loyal to the very end.”

Mason’s brows furrowed. “You were a Raider before?”

“Yeah, out in the Mojave. The Cazadors.”

They heard someone choke on their beer, and Faith turned to see a man staring at her with wide eyes. “You were a Cazador?” he exclaimed. “Man, I heard a you guys! Ran the Mojave for years!”

Faith shifted. “Uh… how’d you hear of us?”

“Went to New Vegas once. But why’d you come here?”

“We were wiped out by some bitch who was taking down all the raider gangs. Was about… 4 months ago. I was out on a job when it happened.”

“Shit. Sorry to hear that, boss. Thought you guys were invincible. Even the Fiends warned each other ‘bout you guys. Ya know - ‘see the vaultie, don’t dwell’, ‘Hide away from Hijack’,-“

“Okay, you don’t have to-“

“‘Always a fool to cross Johnny’, ‘Beware of the silver hair…” He looked up from counting off on his fingers when he heard Faith’s subtle intake of breath. “Hang on. Was that one about you? It was, wasn’t it!”

She ignored the question. “You remembered those?”

“They were spray painted on a lot of old buildings out in the wastes. Hard not to.”

“Right… Anyway, I gotta go. See you guys later.” As she passed the Pack member, he gave her a friendly shoulder pat, and her eyes nearly fluttered closed from the contact.

“Oh, sorry, boss,” he said sheepishly, taking the expression as a sign of irritation.

“No, no,” she responded, almost too quickly, and she puts a gentle hand on his arm. “It’s okay.” The goofy, relieved smile he gives makes her heart swell.

Mason whistled to catch her attention. “One more thing, boss…” He fished a feathered necklace from a cracked bowl beside his throne and tossed it to her. “Keep us in mind when you’re dealin’ out new haunts. Loyalty is a two-way street.”

She put the necklace on over her head and gave the Alpha a goodbye-wink. As they walked out of Pack territory, Faith sidelong glanced at Gage. “Hope you weren’t expecting exclusiveness after last night.”

He chuckled, and the deep, rough sound made her smile falter and her stomach flutter. “Nah, Boss,” he smirked. “Same goes to you, though.”

She hummed a laugh. “Don’t worry. I don’t get attached. Anyway, we’ll head out to start clearing the parks tomorrow. I wanna get some other stuff done first.”

Gage cocked a brow. “We’ll?”

She screwed her eyes shut for a moment in an embarrassed wince. “Shit, sorry. I just assumed you’d be coming with me.”

“No worries. I was plannin’ on offering anyway.”

“Good. Now, our first order of business - get rid of the fucking mannequins.”

 

* * *

 

“I ain’t a fan of these either, but they ain’t gonna hurt ya,” Gage said, watching as Faith hurled another mannequin off the balcony.

“I fuckin’ hate these creepy shits,” Faith responded, swiping her palms together to get the dust off. “Can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened fire on them in old apparel buildings out of surprise. Or spite.” She moved on to her third one - a female model bent over a restaurant podium. Unlike the others, it was wearing a pair of shorts.

“Huh,” she said quietly. “Okay, well I’ll leave that one alone for now.” she gave it a wide berth and went to search the fridge, finding a few ingredients for dinner.

“So who was that guy you brought with you?” Gage asked, throwing the last mannequin off the balcony. “Vic, did ya say?”

Faith set the ingredients on the counter. “Yeah. He’s Vince's brother.”

“Vince?”

“A.k.a Vaultie. My old crew’s leader. The Courier was on the hunt for the rest of our crew, so before he died he told me to leave, find his brother in the Commonwealth. And found him I did.”

“How long were you with them?” Gage asked. "Your gang."

“Vince took me in when I was 10, but I didn’t officially join till I was 16.”

Gage’s eyebrows shot up. “10? Jesus, that’s young.”

“Suppose so. I was living on the streets and Vince found me in some trouble. Saved my life.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I stole some guns off a vendor and he caught me. Shot me in the leg but I managed to outrun him until we were out of Freeside - a little city. He finally caught me, was about to kill me. But Vince shot him first.”

“Hard to believe a Raider would take in a kid.”

“Yeah, you’d think he’d just leave me be. But he thought that if I managed to steal a bunch of guns and run with a bullet in my leg, I had potential.”

“How’d you settle in?”

Faith smiled. “Curious man, aren’t you.”

“I’m the right-hand man, remember? Gotta know at least a little about the person in charge.”

“Hm. Guess so. Well, I wasn’t thrilled about it for the first year. But Vince explained things to me one day. Told me how settlers and citizens had it all wrong. Just wanting to survive out here. Live day-to-day boring lives, farming or working at stalls. Raiders… we live. And sometimes to do that, we gotta be assholes. Isn’t personal. But we weren’t monsters like the Fiends. They took it way too far. Sick, drugged out fuckers that killed, tortured or fucked anything that moved. That’s why ‘Vaultie’s boys’ were allowed inside New Vegas. We could behave. When it was beneficial to us, at least.” She blinked, then shook her head. “Oh my god, I just went on a little rant there, didn’t I. Sorry.”

“No,” Gage said, voice gentle. “I get what you’re sayin’.”

Faith smiled. “Good.” she placed a bowl of stew in front of him, noticing the confused look he shot at it. “What, not hungry?”

“No, it’s just-“

“Good. Then eat.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Yes ma’am. So, the ‘Fiends’. They Raiders too?”

Faith sat on the counter with her own bowl. “Called themselves that. Gives us a bad name. Our boys used to kill ‘em off every chance we got. One of the bosses, Cook-Cook, he’s the one who gave me the scars on my face. We were raiding his lair and I split off from the group. Thankfully Vince found us before he could do anything more than this. They would’ve been way worse, but our doc helped me out. Made sure they would be as light as possible.”

“Why bother?”

“Well, the more prominent they were, the more I’d remember how fucking painful it was to have that blade tear through my face. With them looking like this, I can just shrug the memory off. Most of the time."

"You said Vaultie found ya at 10, but you didn't join until 6 years later. What does that mean? You just stayed in camp?"

Faith was starting to suspect that Gage was the type of man who needed to have every bit of information he could have. She couldn't decided if she liked that or not. "It means I ran little jobs, like stealing and stuff, but I didn't go with them on raids, didn't kill anyone. Well, wasn't _supposed to_. I ended up having to kill some man when I was 11."

"Fuck," Gage mumbled. "That must've messed you up."

She breathed out a laugh. "A little. Still see his eyes sometimes. But... had to do what I had to do. That's how it goes, right?" Gage nodded slowly, subtle, like he was focused on something else, and Faith smiled. "Anyway, I should get some shuteye. Wake me up in the morning, yeah?"  

"Sure. Sleep tight, boss.”

 

* * *

 

Two hours had passed since she heard Gage retreat to his own room, yet she still couldn’t sleep. She played the New Vegas Radio holotape and placed her Pip-Boy on the nightstand, laying back down to stare at the ceiling as “Johnny Guitar” played, bringing on a memory.

_“Would you two keep it down?” Johnny sighed, glaring at Faith and Aviator. The two ladies had their arms draped on each other’s shoulders as they walked and sang along to ‘Mad About the Boy’ as it playing from Vince’s Pip Boy._

_Faith and Aviator glanced at each other with raised brows before Faith broke away to grab Vince’s arm and turned off the song, then returned to her friend. As if their thoughts were synchronized, they started to dramatically sing together._

_“Plaaay the guitar, play it again, our Johnny… Maybe you're cold, but you're so waaaaarm insiiiide!”_

_Johnny rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged his lips. “Shut up!”_

_“Weeee were always a foool for our Johnnyyy… For the one they call, Johnny Guitaaaaar!”_

_“I don’t even have a fuckin’ guitar!” he argued, coming up behind the two and slapping his hands over their mouths._

 

Faith blinked, and tears trickled from the corners of her eyes to drip down her temples. She sang along, her voice a wavering whisper.

“If you're cruel, you can be kind, I know… There was never a man, like our Johnny… Like the one they call…” She trailed off, her body relaxing at the sound of the music.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A song's mentioned right off the bat in this chapter - Jail House Blues sung by Ella Fitzgerald, and I highly recommend giving it a listen because it's such a beautiful song and it feels fuckin' great to listen to when in the right mood.
> 
> \- Ellie

Gage was woken up by a clap of thunder, and he sighed, the small bit of panic that shot through him thinning out. He glanced at the novelty nuka cola clock on the nightstand to see it was still early in morning, so he took his time getting dressed before heading out to see if Faith was awake yet.

She was, and fuck was she a sight for sore eyes. Or, her ass and back were.

The music on her Pip Boy was on full blast as the rain poured steadily beyond the balcony. Faith was facing away, and the chest straps of her harness were hanging loosely at her hips, her cropped undershirt she slept in still on. She moved languidly to the slow-tempo music, hips jerking with each hit of the drums.

“ _I don’t mind being in jail, but I gotta stay there so long… every friend I’ve had, done shook hands and gone…_ ”

Gage stepped through the doorway. “Lookin’ good, Boss.”

She spun around, the smile on her face like a goddamn beacon of light, lips shining and lightly tinted with a color similar to old-world wine. The bright white lines were drawn under her eyes again, making her steel irises seem warmer in comparison.

“Morning, Gage. Ready to head out?” She strode over to her bed. “Hope you don’t mind hoofing it in the rain.”

“Nah, don’t much care.”

“Good.” With her back turned to him she stripped her undershirt off and traded it for her bra before putting her harness’s chest straps in place, then shrugged on an oversized leather jacket that read _Casino Lights, Carry Me Home_ on the back. "By the way, I crafted you a polymer weave version of road leathers so you don’t have to wear that armor of yours.”

“But I like my armor,” Gage argued.

“Yes Gage, but one, it’s bright yellow so there goes our sneaky factor, two, it does jack shit to protect you from bullets with all the gaps, three it’s heavy and clunky as hell so if we have to squeeze ourselves through something you’ll have to take it off anyway. Oh, and four, I’m the boss and I say you’re wearing the leather.”

He put his hands up in surrender. “Fine. Give me a minute and we’ll go.”

 

* * *

 

Faith liked the rain. She liked the smell of water hitting sun-warmed soil, she liked the thick humidity in the air, and she liked the subtle chill that the cool drops brought to her skin.

“So has anyone been out here yet?” she asked as they neared Galactic Zone’s entrance.

“I sent a scout once after a few months of settin’ up shop,” Gage answered. “He said this place is swarmin’ with bots.”

“Not my favorite kind of enemy, but I can…“ Her eyes fell to the corpses in front of one of the two entryway arches, wounded and rotting. “Oh, wow.”

“At least the rain is weighing down the smell,” Gage said, giving the dead traders a wide berth as he circled them.

“Uh huh.”

He cocked a brow. “You’re not squeamish, are ya?”

“Me? No, I’m just not particularly fond of decomposing corpses. Why don't you do the honors.”

He obliged, crouching down beside one of them and pulling out a tin of caps before retrieving a holotape.

"Lemme see the tape," Faith requested, and he tossed it to her.

“Anything on it?” Gage asked after a few moments, putting the miscellaneous loot into his own pack. 

“It’s a journal log. To turn on the power here we have to find something called a ‘star core’. Lots of them.”

“A scavenger hunt. Fun.”

Faith took the new rifle from the holster on her back and hefted it in her grip. “Let’s get to it, then. We have to find a place called Star Control. Should be at the center of the park.”

Walking through the entryway, they only managed a few steps before the whir and beeping of turrets sounded in front of them. They ducked behind a large planter in time to miss the laser shots, and the noise alerted nearby robots - nukatrons, eyebots, and Mr Frothies.

“Got a plan, Boss?” Gage asked. “We surface from here and we’ll get our heads blown off.”

“Yeah, Yeah,” she breathed, rooting around in her pack. She took out several pulse grenades and tugged the pins out before blindly throwing them over the planter. She could feel the energy crackle in the air as the explosives went off, and they heard some of the robots burst, others clanking to the ground. Faith peaked her head up and saw every machine nearby had been destroyed or at least short-circuited into shutting down. She stood up and planted a foot on the planter, shooting Gage a shit-eating grin with a silver brow cocked.

He huffed out a laugh. “Nice one, Boss.”

“Thank you. Now give me a sec and I’ll snipe down the ones still in view.”

“And how good are you with a sniper rifle,” he mumbled, staying crouched but peaking his head up.

“Thanks to Vic’s lessons my headshot accuracy is so good it could turn someone on.” She nailed a nukatron on its screen, the bullet hitting cappy, then sidelong glanced at Gage. “Does that do it for ya.”

He chuckled, a deep sound that made Faith’s shoulders slump. A few minutes passed before bots stopped appearing in her scope, and they continued into the park, finding the Star Control building not far in.

“I’m not exactly sure what any of this shit does or if it even works,” Gage mentioned, eyes scanning over the machinery and control panels, “but I’m gonna keep my hands to myself just the same.”

Faith lifted a large component from a corpse on the floor and put it in one of the many slots, then moved on to the main terminal. Gage leaned against the railing as she downloaded the star core locations to her Pip Boy. After a minute she disconnected the adapter and plugged it back into her Pip Boy. “Closest attraction is Nuka-Galaxy. Let’s kick it.”

 

 

“Oh that’s gonna be annoying as shit,” Gage said over the voice broadcasting from the intercoms. “Did that star control say where the cores are?”

“Not the direct locations, just what attractions they’re scattered in. There’s seven in here.” Gage groaned, and she narrowed her eyes. “C’mon, Gage, don’t tell me you’re lazy.”

“No, Boss. But I can just tell this is gonna be a pain in the ass.”

 

It was a pain in the ass. Not even just two of the star cores were near each other in the massive robot-infested building, and animatronic aliens with real laser weapons stood guard in unexpected corners. But eventually they found them all, the last one located at the control panel for the indoor rollercoaster. Nearby was a mannequin wearing an intact Nuka-Girl costume, the helmet and jetpack excluded.

“Oh, I am _taking this_ ,” Faith mumbled as she undressed the animatronic model.

“Why?” Gage drawled.

“Because of how fucking fun it would be to run around like Nuka-Girl.” As soon as the outfit was off the figure she stripped off her own clothes, nonchalantly tossing her bra to the floor like Gage wasn’t eyeing her up with heated intensity. She quickly shrugged on the top, her breasts fitting nicely in the white leather, then slid on the tight white pants. She kept a subtle eye on Gage as she slowly pulled on the second deadly-heeled thigh high black boot.

“Well?” she questioned, giving him a slow spin so he could see every aspect of the suit. Particularly her ass.

“Looks great Boss,” he told her, voice deep. “Better than a pinup.”

She flashed him a smile, then stuffed her clothes into her pack before putting her weapons back on her person. “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

The Battlezone and Interstellar Theatre were easily swept through do to their smaller size, but the Vault-Tec attraction, though not very larger either, proved more challenging.

And _that_ is where Gage discovered that their new Overboss had a short fuse.

“I’m tired of these _fucking_ voices,” she growled, taking her impressive bat to the head of a mannequin in the quarters display. It flew off the figure’s neck and bounced off the wall to roll over to Faith’s feet, and she kicked it into the next room. “Chittering in my fuckin’ ear, where’s the fucking speakers!”

“Take it easy, Boss,” Gage said gently. “Just gotta find one more core in here, right?” He could hear the voices too, but they were barely audible. At least to him.

“Yeah, except we can’t fucking find it!” The television was obliterated in two hits. “And all these _fucking_ robots are getting on my goddamn nerves!” There went a potted plant that stayed intact for over 200 years only to be destroyed by an angry Raider’s bat. “And all these fucking doors used to hide _what_? Fucking concrete walls!”

“All right, why don’t you go wait in the lobby while I keep looking,” Gage suggested. “Cool down before you come at me with that thing.” Her cheeks were flushed and eyes dilated from frustration, and even like this she was a looker. She opened her mouth to maybe accept the offer, but her eyes locked on something behind him.

“Have we been in there yet?” she questioned, and he looked over his shoulder to see another door.

“Don’t think so,” Gage answered, letting her breeze passed him.

“If there’s another fucking concrete wall…” She pressed the button and the door shot up, revealing a small room with a terminal and control panel, a star core fitted on the side. The noise of relief that left Faith was nearly orgasmic, and her whole body went limp. “Thank fuck!” She pried the core out and stuffed it into her pack, then destroyed the machinery inside the room with her bat, the voices stopping with the destruction of the terminal.

She sighed, her eyelids fluttering, and unexpectedly pulled Gage into a full, wet kiss, a frayed sigh muffled between their lips.

Whatever was on her lips must have been flavored, because as Gage ran his tongue over her bottom lip, hands roaming the flanks of her back, he could taste a hint of flavored nuka-cola, though he couldn’t tell which one. The passion and intensity of the unexpected kiss was nearly dizzying, but feeling her under his hands kept him grounded. He was just about to lift her up and carry her to the desk, but the sound of glass cracking tore them away from each other.

Inside the greenhouse across the way, a Mr. Handy aimed a nozzle at them, the plexiglass barrier now useless with a hole seared into it. “You’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” Gage said roughly, and he felt the Overboss stiffen under his hands. He quickly held them palm-side up, and she stomped off with her bat in her grip. He watched her stalk towards the Handy, then slowly swing the bat back with a furious shout.

“Fuckin’ ROBOTS!”

Gage leaned against the threshold and observed, feeling a little bit peeved himself. _Can’t believe I got cockblocked by a fuckin' Mr Handy._

 

He could tell the frustration that had built inside Faith during their time in the Vault-Tec attraction was fading, even more so as they placed the cores back in their slots, a satisfying beep sounding with each installed. "There's still a few scattered around the outside of the park," she said. "We'll take care of the rest of the robots before we look for them. Get ready."

"Always am," Gage assured, and she smiled.

 

It seemed that the Overboss didn't get as frustrated when out in the open. This was their first fight together that allowed them to create space between the enemy, _and_ each other. They had talked about tactics on the way to the park, and Gage had told her that he was better with his short-scoped rifle. So when he started to distance himself from the thick of it, she gave him a nod of understanding.

"Talk to me, Gage," she called after a while. a while of glancing at her, watching how fluidly she moved to keep bullets and lasers off, how she avoided melee attacks like it was a dance.

"Just a few more to take down," he responded, not sure why she was asking.

"I meant are you doing okay," she corrected.

That was a bit of a surprise. Usually in the middle of a fight it was every man for themselves. "Just fine, Boss."

Further into the fighting they fell into an easy rhythm, and he noticed how she kept the enemies off him, prioritized taking down the ones closing in on him. In turn, Gage picked off the ones getting too close to her while her eyes were off them. It caught the bots off guard, betraying the expectation that they'd focus on their own up-front opponents rather than take down each other's. Gage had never done it this way before - only focused on keeping himself alive. But he was quick to adapt.

 

"Finally," Faith sighed, holstering her rifle and running both her hands over her head. "You good?"

"Yeah Boss," Gage smiled. "You?"

"Great. Now let's find the cores and finish up here."

 

* * *

 

“You really did it,” Mags said in surprise, eyes wide. “That’s…”

“Great news, boss,” William finished. “We appreciate it.”

“I’ll go for Dry Rock Gulch tomorrow and claim it for you, but I’ll have to save the rest of the parks for the other gangs,” Faith told them.

“About that, boss. Any idea who you’re going to favor? It’s not a secret that someone’s going to get their feelings hurt.”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Faith teased. “Have a little fun with the suspense.”

Mags chuckled. “You’re killing us here, boss. But okay. Again, we appreciate what you’re doing.”

 

Faith looked to the darkened sky once they left the Parlor, then called over a Pack member. “Tell your Alpha to report to my place as soon as he can.”

“Yes boss,” the woman said, her audible smirk covered by an elephant mask.

“Gage,” Faith said as the Raider rushed away. “I’m gonna need some privacy for a while. Think you can find something to do for the night? Come back to wake me up in the morning, though.”

The man smiled. “Sure thing, Boss. You have fun.”


	7. Chapter 7

Faith smirked when the lift came to life and she slid off the bar. Appearing in front of her was Mason, and he quickly stepped onto the balcony.

“Diggin’ the outfit, Boss. You wanted to see me?” he said, barely able to contain the excitement in his voice.

“I think you need a lesson, big guy,” she told him.

“Oh yeah? About what.”

“Obedience. If you wanna back out, now’s the best time.”

“Am I gonna fuck you?”

She smiled. “That’s the plan.”

“Then there’s not a fuckin’ chance I’m backin’ out.”

“Wonderful. Get undressed and on the bed. Your back to the mattress.”

He nearly tripped over his own feet doing as she said, and Faith followed him at a leisurely pace, calmly undoing the clasp on her Pip Boy and setting the device on the nightstand. By then, the Alpha was already stripped bare, his cock hard and ready.

 _Really is a big guy._ “Here’s how this is gonna go, Alpha,” Faith started, disarming to take her suit off. “You’re going to do exactly as I say. Disobey me, and we stop the whole thing.”

“Gotta admit, that’s not my style, Boss,” he responded, propped up on his elbows.

“Exactly. Which is why we’re calling this a lesson. Hopefully you have some restraint.” She started to strip, Mason watching her raptly. “And just so you know, this is a one time thing.”

“Believe me, even with that as the case I’ll be able to die happy.”

A laugh bubbled up from her throat as she shimmied off her pants. “Didn't pin you as a sweet talker.” She knelt on the bed before straddling him, and she swatted his hands away as soon as they went for her waist. “No touching.”

“Oh you gotta be fuckin’—“

“ _Restraint_. And obedience.” She could feel the power coiled beneath her, his muscles practically thrumming and it made her blood run hot. She teased herself with two fingers and leaned down, hovering her lips above his before kissing him softly. He tensed under her for a moment, but soon eagerly returned it.

Faith moaned into him and lifted her hips to line herself up, then straightened up and sank down.

“Sweet fuckin’…” Mason gasped, his head tilting back against the mattress. One of his hands lashed out to grip the wooden headboard while the other twisted the sheets under them.

Faith’s brows furrowed as she adjusted to his size, her hands placed on his stomach and her fingers splayed. Mason’s eyes darted over her body, taking in every inch of her that he could see.

“Remember,” Faith panted. “No touching.”

“Yeah, I got it, now please…”

She cocked a silver brow. “‘Please’? Asking so nicely for me.” She lifted her hips achingly slow then quickly sank back down, the start of a steady pace. She let the natural bounce of her ass against his thighs mold the rhythm, and she watched with hooded eyes as the Alpha beneath her tried desperately to obey her orders.

“How you holdin’ up, big guy?” she asked breathlessly.

“Gotta be honest,” he bit out, “I’m warrin’ with myself a little, boss. But fuck you feel good. So fucking…”

“You can move,” she told him. “Just don’t touch me—“ A surprised cry broke the last word when Mason thrust up into her at the same time she was sinking down. She chased after the pain that had her seeing stars, her pace quickening and that dirty heat inside her already coiling tight in her stomach. “That’s it, big guy, _fuck_ that’s it. Just like that, c’mon… Oh, _Mason!_ ”

The Alpha’s breath grew heavier and he fought to keep his eyes open, head tilted up as he watched the Overboss ride him quick and dirty. “Gorgeous, Boss. Fuckin’ beautiful.”

Her movements turned frantic as she careened towards the edge. “Yes, yes, yesyesyes—!” Her mouth fell open in a silent scream, and the headboard groaned under the increasing pressure of Mason’s grip.

“Fuuucckk,” he groaned, head tilting back as she pulsed around him. He rolled his hips up, and the Overboss tugged on his waist.

“Fuck me through it, c’mon,” she said quickly.

He listened to the way her body swayed and rolled them over, but he waited for her to nod before pounding into her, keeping her hips pinned to the bed with a strong hand.

“Oh, fuck yes!” Faith cried, the heels of her feet digging into Mason’s hips. She growled out a moan and waited for her high to fade before clawing her nails into his shoulder.

“Stop,” she ordered.

“Boss—“

“I said _stop_.”

He did as she said, pausing with his cock still buried inside her. She could practically feel anger radiating from his sweat-dampened skin, and his teeth scraped against her neck, ready to sink in to show just how displeased he was. “Restraint,” she repeated, and his chest heaved against her but he kept his hips still. "Mason." A full body shiver from the man on top of her, and she smiled. "Behind the most powerful Alphas, there's a female he bends knee to. She is the only one he obeys, and his loyalty to her is unmatched. I need you to let me be her. Can you do that for me?"

"Wil I have _your_ loyalty?"

"Unwavering."

"... Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."

Faith pushed him to sit up, his cock sliding out of her. He looked at her with wild confusion, and she smiled. “Good. What’s your favorite position?”

His eyes widened. “On your knees. Boss.”

She turned her back to him and leaned forward on her hands. “C’mon, big guy,” she said warmly, wiggling her hips invitingly. “Show me why you’re the Alpha.”

She bit her bottom lip when he captured her waist with two massive hands, and she was nearly knocked down to her forearms when he thrust back into her. She cried out, and the Alpha went feral.

 

* * *

 

He hated Dixie.

She was psychopathic, overly bloodthirsty and sadistic even for a Disciple. But she was pretty under that metal mask, and she let Gage be as rough as he wanted to be. She even put up a fight sometimes if the mood called for it, giving him an excuse to cause the woman a bit of pain. Though it wasn’t as rewarding since she liked it.

Her throat swelled under his palm as she struggled to gasp in a breath, her legs wrapped tightly around him as he rammed into her and her nails clawing into his shoulders. It was their third round and Gage didn’t think he had another left in him, so he made his pace particularly brutal. Dixie wheezed below him, blonde hair fanned out against the mattress and eyes darkened with pleasure as they rolled back.

Gage felt her clench around him, and he lifted the pressure from her throat, letting the woman take in a desperate, strangled breath that made her nearly delirious when paired with her orgasm.

Gage didn’t let up, gripping her hair and wrenching her head to the side so he could sink his teeth into her neck. His tongue laved over her skin, tasting dirt and sweat. Dixie mewled and squirmed with pleasure, and Gage thrust into her a few more times before pulling out and coming over her bare stomach.

“Holy shit,” Dixie gasped as Gage rolled off of her. “That was the best yet! You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Porter.”

“Don’t call me that,” he told her, staring up at the wooden ceiling of her private room.

“It’s your name, sugar.”

“Not to you.”

She sighed, feigning a pout. “Fine. So you going back to your place now?”

He glanced at the dirt-smeared novelty alarm clock. 1am. “Night’s still young.”

“Well then…” Her hand wrapped around his cock and gently stroked. “Wanna see if I can get one more round outta you?”

 

* * *

 

Faith groaned when Mason collapsed on top of her, and she slapped his bicep. Her chest couldn't expand, and after this round she needed to take in gulps. "Get off, you weigh a ton."

"Mm, can't move," he mumbled, using her breasts as a headrest. Faith wriggled underneath him, pushing against his shoulders.

"Overboss's cause of death," she narrated, voice strained from effort, "crushed by Pack Alpha after he repeatedly fucked her senseless." She managed to slide out enough to unburden her chest, allowing it to heave the way she needed it to. 

"What a way to go," he responded, nipping at her bottom rib. She hummed a laugh and raked her fingers through his hair, slow and relaxing as her nails massaged his scalp. 

"Hey," she said after a few moments of comfortable silence. "What parks do you want? I'm guessing Safari Adventure as one."

He propped himself up on his elbows, one hand resting on the side of her ribcage while the other absentmindedly toyed with the yao gui necklace he had put around her neck. "Yeah, obviously. And I was thinkin' Kiddie Kingdom. The bright colors are fitting for the Pack, and I want my boys to have some fun. That work for you, Boss?"

"Yeah. I'm going after Dry Rock tomorrow for Mags, but after that I'll move on to Safari."

"So Nisha's gonna be left with just one park."

"It'll show 'er that threatening your boss will get you nowhere. Now please, I'd rather not have the thought of her ruin the afterglow."

"'Afterglow', is that what people call it?" He rolled onto his side, bringing her with him, and met her eyes. "You don't gotta worry about me blabbin' about this, just so y'know. I mean, word's gonna spread anyway 'cause I'll be spotted leavin' and no doubt I was seen comin' up. And you're loud as shit." He smiled when she chuckled. "But I won't go boastin'."

"I appreciate it, big guy. Now get outta my bed and back to your territory."

He grinned and did a full-body stretch before standing, yanking on his pants and tank top. "Get some rest, boss lady. You're gonna be hurtin' in the morning."

"Hmm." She narrowed her eyes, then slowly crooked a finger towards him. He leaned down and she captured his jaw in her grip to give him another kiss. He smiled into it, lifting his necklace over her head to slide it back onto his own neck before pulling away.

"Night, boss."

"Night, big guy."

 

* * *

 

“—oss. Boss!”

Faith’s eyes fluttered open to see Gage, standing with his arms folded over his chest. “Huh?” Her voice came out hoarse.

“Told me to wake you up. Fuck, I dunno how you survived this long, sleepin’ that soundly.”

“I travel with light sleepers to compensate.” She lifted herself up on her arms, and she choked out a half-laugh-half-groan at the soreness that strung through her. She flopped back down onto her stomach. “Gage, can you get me some Med-X? Please.”

He did as she requested, taking a syringe of Med-X from the medkit on the wall and handing it to her. “Had a good night, Boss?”

“Mmm.” She took the chem from him and jabbed the needle into her hip. “By those bites on your neck, I’d say you did, too.” She smiled when he rubbed at his neck like he had forgotten they were there. She stretched languidly, already feeling the chem soothing her aches, and sat up. When the blanket fell away, Gage hissed a curse. She followed his gaze and saw the bite marks on her breasts and ribcage, the bruises that had already bloomed on her hips, and the face paint smeared on her inner thighs.

“You should see the other guy,” she joked with a goofy smile, willing the flush in her cheeks to go away. “I’m gonna go take a quick shower, then we’ll head out.”

 

* * *

 

Gage raked his fingers over his mohawk as soon as the doors closed. The pang of jealousy that hit him at the sight of Faith’s affectionately-marked body made his stomach twist with unease. It’s never happened to him before, seeing a previous lay sporting marks from a different partner and feeling… upset. But he’d be lying to himself if he said it wasn’t a damn pretty sight, too. The white under her eyes smudged and the tint on her lips smeared, the bites and bruises like strikes of paint on a canvas. Even when made to look like a mess she was beautiful.

He sat down at the bar. _Shit, I gotta snap out of it. She’s a stunner, so what. So are a bunch of other women in this place._ He rubbed tiredly at his face _. But she’s a special kind of beautiful, ain’t she. Ah well. I’ll get over it._

 

Faith emerged clean, dressed in her harness. "Gage, what do you know about the other parks?"

A sudden question - she must've got to thinking while she was in the shower. "Not much since we never moved on 'em. I know there's an infestation in Dry Rock, radiation in Kiddie Kingdom..." He noticed how she winced at that. "Somethin' wrong?"

"I just... don't like radiation. One time me and a couple of our men got trapped in an irradiated vault for so long we almost died. Fucked us up, too. I can't get pregnant and the boys can't-- _couldn't_ , knock anyone up."

Gage cocked a brow. "What, did you have future plans for kids or somethin'?"

"Fuck no, it's just... I dunno, I just don't like the thought of not being able to. Y'know, in case things ever changed. But I'll be fine when we get to Kiddie Kingdom, so don't worry about it. I just get a little nervous at first. Anyway, let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Waiting near the bottom of the lift was an Operator. “Overboss, sorry to bother you, but something’s come up.”

“I’m listening,” Faith responded, folding her arms under her breasts. The man’s eyes scanned over her body, her harness doing nothing to hide the bites and bruises from the night before. She cleared her throat, and he shook his head clear.

“We’ve had several people go missing up by some attraction right outside of Nuka-World, both Raiders and traders. It’s some kind of mansion.”

“Have you sent someone out there?”

“Several people. None of them came back. We wouldn’t normally bother the big boss with this, but taking Nuka-Galaxy proved that if anyone can fix whatever’s happening to our guys, it’s you.”

“… All right. Tell Mags that her claim on Dry Rock Gulch will have to wait till tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She waited until he walked away to turn to Gage. “Did you know about this?”

“Yeah, but I figured they were just rumors since nobody’s made a formal report,” he answered. “We going out there now?”

“Might as well. Let’s kick it.”

 

* * *

 

Faith noticed how Gage fell quiet halfway to their destination, and it let her own thoughts gather her attention.

_Wonder who the lucky Raider was last night. I’m betting a Pack or Disciple member. Really did a number on him - all those teeth prints, and his biceps are covered in scratches… I’d put money on a Pack member._

“Hey Boss.”

Her head jerked up from watching the ground pass under her. “What’s up?”

“Just been thinkin’ is all. That whole thing with Colter, I just… hope it’s not a sore spot between us. I mean, here I went and turned on the Overboss. Who’s to say I wouldn’t do it again?”

She looked ahead, blinking. “I… hadn’t really thought about that.” She heard him sigh, maybe regretting bringing it up and putting the idea in her head. It wasn’t a pleasant thought.

“Look, Colter was a piece of shit,” he went on. “I was real clear with you on that. But that… Really that was all on me. I’m the one that helped him get that far in the first place.”

The corner of her lips twitched. “If you’re gonna tell me you shoved a hand up his ass and turned him into a human puppet, I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Damn, woman,” he chuckled. “Quite an imagination you got there.”

“Why’d you help him along if he was so bad?”

“I didn’t think he’d be shit at it. He was what we needed - big, strong, didn’t take shit from nobody. He’d be feared and respected, and he’d listen to me. But he was stubborn, and he let everything go to his head. What I’m trying to get at is, you ain’t like Colter. Ain’t like the other Raider’s I’ve run with. I know it hasn’t been that long, but you’ve been a good Overboss so far. Hell, you’ve accomplished in a day what Colter hadn’t managed to do with a year. And from what you’ve told me, I can see you’ve got a good mindset. You’re loyal to your people.”

“Are you trying to sweet talk me to get my pants off again?”

A chuckle rose from his chest. “Naw, Boss. Just thought I’d let you know. Though getting you outta your pants again would be a great fuckin’ bonus.”

She hummed a laugh. “Well, flattery will get you everywhere. So why haven’t you taken the reins? You don’t wanna lead?”

“Nah, leadin’ outright just ain’t my style. Not to keen on having a target on my back. Bein’ the guy behind the one in charge suits me fine.”

“Hey, I can dig it.” She winced at her own wording. _Spent too much time at The Tops_. “I used to be in your position. You can’t let it be too cozy. There’s still a risk. No doubt some prick will think they’ll get the Overboss peeved if they take out the right-hand. And there’s the possibility that some gang member will think that they’ll get a promotion chance if you’re taken out.”

Gage nodded. “True enough. I'm guessing you were Vaultie’s right hand?”

“I was a lot of people’s right hand, but not Vince’s. Didn’t want to put me in any more danger than I already signed up for, and if my advice led to shit he wouldn’t want the heat on me.”

“Sounds like he had a soft spot for ya…” She heard a loaded question and waited. “Did you set out to lead your own gang ‘cause you wanted to, or just ‘cause he told you to?”

“That’s… a good question. Guess I don’t know. I certainly don’t mind leading. I’m good at it. But… I’m not sure if I would’ve set out for my own crew if he hadn’t asked. And I guess he knew that. Knew that if he hadn’t given me an order… I wouldn’t be sure what to do.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I just started rambling again.”

“It’s okay, Boss. You don’t need to apologize.” He chuckled quietly. “Shit, you’re too goddamn sweet for a Raider. You know that?”

She breathed out a laugh. “Well, there’s certainly worse things to be.”

 

* * *

 

“Do you know what this place is?” Faith asked as they neared the mansion.

“No, ‘cause no one’s come back to tell me,” Gage answered.

The protectron at the ticket booth straightened up. “Welcome to the Grandchester Mystery Mansion. Inside you will learn the story of Lucy and how she gruesomely murdered her parents. Just sixty-five dollars.”

“I, uh… I’m an employee,” Faith lied. “I get in for free.”

“Enjoy your visit to the Grandchester Mystery Mansion.”

Faith nodded and approached the doors. Looking up at the massive building, she suddenly felt uneasy. “Gage? Why don’t you take the lead.”

“Sure thing, Boss.” She could hear the amusement in his voice, and she held back a sigh as she followed him in.

They looked around the foyer, and a man’s deep voice came from the loudspeaker. “ _The story of the Grandchester Mystery Mansion begins with Morticia and Hannibal Grandchester—_ “

“Boss, up there. Is that a fuckin’ kid?”

Faith’s head jerked up to one of the doors on the upper floor, where a little girl was smiling at them, leaning over the banister. “Hey!” Faith called, and the kid pushed off the railing. Faith started to climb stairs that led to nowhere, planning to jump from the top and hoist herself over the banister, but the beeping of a mine made her jump back.

“Boss!” Gage called over the explosion. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Faith huffed as the smoke cleared, eyes still on the little girl, but only for a moment before she disappeared beyond the door, the click of a lock sounding. “Dammit.”

“ _Hannibal never wanted a child_ ,” the announcer went on, “ _and resents the young girl for the near death of his wife. Please proceed to the next room._ ”

The door just below the one where the girl had disappeared swung open, and they walked into the next room. The door closed behind them, and the announcer went on to explain that Lucy had captured and skinned small animals, pinning their hides underneath pieces of furniture.

“That’s one fucked up kid,” Gage mumbled.

“See any signs of our people?” Faith asked, rubbing her arms like it would throw the chill off.

“None.”

The next door swung open, bringing them into a long corridor. At the end was the little girl, and when Faith started to bolt for her flames blocked her path. “Oh, you’re kidding!” she exclaimed, moving behind the flamethrowers to avoid the fire. “See Gage? I was right about your armor.”

“Yeah yeah,” Gage mumbled, following her with his body turned sideways so he could squeeze passed the traps. 

The next room was uneventful, save for all the furniture being upside down, hanging from the ceiling and walls. The announcer explained Morticia’s paranoia of ghosts possessing her daughter and haunting their house, and how her psychic explained that the spirits would be confused by the room’s setup, making it hard to find Lucy.

The next door opened for them, and Faith just barely dodged out of the threshold in time when a laser shot towards her head. “Fucking robots,” she sighed, taking a pulse grenade and blindly tossing it into the kitchen.

“Robots?” Gage repeated. “I don’t think they’d be part of this place.”

“And a kid couldn’t bring them here or rig them to shoot on sight,” Faith added, leading him into the kitchen. “So how’d she get by?”

“Beats me.”

She went to the left door, taking out a bobby pin when she found it locked. As soon as she opened it, she was almost knocked back by the stench of rotting flesh. At the bottom of the steps were corpses, some wearing armor from her gangs, others simple trader clothes.

“Found our people,” she choked out. “Fuck, that’s a lot of them, too. Okay, moving on.”

They went through another hallway before ending up where they had first spotted the kid, the door swinging open to welcome them into a ‘seance room’.

 “‘Bout fuckin’ had it with this announcer guy,” Gage mumbled, walking over to the next door and forcing it open with a strong kick. Faith followed him through the gift shop and into Lucy's room.

 " _After impaling his foot on a rusty spike that was mysteriously driven into his shoe, Hannibal came to Lucy's room to punish her for the prank," the announcer said. "We'll never know for sure how it happened, but he was found with a pair of scissors driven through his eye and into his brain. Lucy claimed she was holding them in self defense as he tried to beat her with his cane. She said he tripped and fell onto the scissors. When asked why his fingers had all been cut off, she replied that it was so he couldn't hold the cane again._ "

"Oh boy," Faith muttered, closing her eyes tightly.

" _Lucy's mother was found dead in the master bedroom with a cloth doll stuffed in her mouth. Her wrists had rope burns, but no ropes were ever found. Lucy insisted that the doll was solely responsible because Morticia wouldn't give her a kiss goodnight. Lucy was committed to an asylum. On her eighteenth birthday, she escaped. nine days later she was found hanging in the attic, dead from an apparent suicide."_ The next door swung open. _"Please proceed to the next room."_

 "Who's there?" Came a voice, and Faith sighed before heading into the bedroom to quickly shoot down the Gunner hiding inside. 

"Search his body for anything we could use," Faith ordered Gage as she hacked into the terminal.

Gage did as she said, pocketing chems, caps and stims. "Anything interesting on there?"

"He's heard a little girl laughing, thinking it was one of the bots malfunctioning." She straightened up and looked at him. "I've come to the conclusion that I hate this fucking place and we should leave immediately."

"Agreed..." His voice trailed off when they heard a door creak, and they both turned to see a little girl peaking through. 

"You fuckin' kid," Faith mumbled, bolting for the door and chasing after the girl with Gage right behind her. They followed her into the massive attic, losing sight of her when she rounded a stack of storage boxes. They caught up soon enough to just see the door close, and Faith swung it back open to find just more of the wall. She sputtered in surprise before sprinting out. "I'm getting the fuck outta here." Gage was right behind her as she quickly picked the balcony door open and rushed out.

“That was bullshit, Gage,” Faith huffed, raking her fingers through the roots of her hair.

“I know, Boss, just take it easy,” he said. "It was probably just some kinda magic trick some little girl picked up."

"It was a wall, Gage! She walked through a wall!"

Tapping from the circular window above them, and the little girl was looking down with a smile, her finger smudging the glass. Faith leapt over the scaffolding with  whispered _fuck this_ , chancing the long fall and landing with a grunt as pain shot up her ankles.

"You just don't go jumpin' off of shit," Gage scolded, using the stairs like a sensible person.

"It's fine, Vic's taught me how to do it without getting too hurt. Let's just go tell Mags what we found."

"Right. But how about we leave the little girl out of the report, huh?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song mentioned near the end of the chapter is this one:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB_fbBfP9yU&list=PLKinPNse5JmfgSBu8gxbVBzcKGI8It03Z&index=22

 

“Porter, honey!” They both turned towards the voice, and Faith’s brows furrowed at the approaching Disciple.

“I told you not to call me that,” Gage told her sternly, and Faith felt unease stuff her chest.

_He doesn’t like that? Shit, that must’ve put a damper on our time together._

The Disciple took Gage’s hand. “C’mon, sugar, let’s spend some time together. I just learned a little somethin’ that I think you’re gonna love.”

“Not now, Dixie—“

“Oh, come on! This can’t just always be your call. That’s just not fair.”

“I ain’t… available. The Overboss needs my help with somethin’. Ain’t that right, Boss?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah.”

Dixie made a pouting noise. “Ah, well. Maybe tomorrow. Night you two.”

They stepped onto the lift, and Faith pushed the button. “Thanks for the cover, Boss,” Gage mumbled.

“Hey, I've got your back,” she smiled. “However you need me to.” The lift came to a halt, and Faith was taken aback. The broken booths were cleared out, and lights were strung up on the ceiling. Near her bed were Nuka-cola floor lamps, one a dark, dim purple while the other resembled quantum. The colorful glow made her feel more… at home. And stretching across the wall above the television area in neon lights was _Beware the Silver Hair_ , most of the warning in purple while the last two words were white.

“You make some changes while I wasn’t lookin’?” Gage asked.

Faith’s heart swelled. “I told Mason during a, uh," she cleared her throat, "a small break, that I wanted to redecorate, make this place more comfortable, and he offered to have some of his boys help. Including the one who’s been to New Vegas.”

“That’s… unusually thoughtful of him.”

“Well, he’s making me pay of course. Still, nice of him to do for me. Anyway, wanna have a drink with me?"

Gage smiled. "Sure, Boss."

 

By 4am Faith had decided that Gage was quickly becoming one of her favorite people to chat with. Conversation just came easily between them, and time went by unchecked for hours. Even when they both grew exhausted, she felt like there was still more to talk about. And during the night's span she noticed that, interestingly enough, Gage had different types of laughter. A deep chuckle that set a fire inside her, a chipped bark that broke out whenever Faith told him about the scams she had pulled in New Vegas, even a cute rapid fire giggle that appeared only after a few drinks. Each one made Faith smile.

But eventually they couldn't keep their eyes open, and they both retreaded to their own beds.

 

* * *

 

_Faith walked with her arms draped over Aviator and Swinger, three other Cazadors linked in line as they staggered down the Strip._

_“Now she had a dream about the King of Sweden,” Johnny sang loudly. “He gave her things that she was needin’. He gave her a home built of gold and steel, a diamond car with the platinum wheel~”_

_Everyone joined during the repeats in the chorus, a couple of her boys jumbling the words due to drunken minds, but it only made Faith laugh. She glanced up at the sky, casino lights blinking and shining in peripheral view. She felt light, she felt free and she felt at home, her chest swelling and lips cracking in a smile._

 

“--oss. Boss.”

She jolted awake to stare up at Gage, eyes squinting against the morning light. “Yeah,” she mumbled, smacking away the hand that was shaking her awake a moment ago.

“You wanted me to wake you up so we could head to Dry Rock.”

“Right. Give me a minute... Just gotta..." A smack to her head and she scrambled back. "All right! I'm up."

"Good, or else I'm gonna have to break out the water bucket." He scrubbed at his face as he turned towards the bar, hinting at his own tiredness. "I'm gonna put on some coffee."

"Good idea." With a sigh she coiled her legs back to rock them heavily forward, the momentum sitting her up. She clapped her hands, the loudness rousing her a bit. "All right, wakey wakey."


	10. Chapter 10

They were halfway to Dry Rock Gulch when Faith asked, “You ever gonna tell me what happened to your eye?”

Gage huffed out a laugh. “Wish I could give you some badass story about a fight with a Deathclaw or some shit, but the truth is it was just part of an initiation into one of the gangs I ran with.”

She blinked at him. “They took your eye as initiation?”

“Well they didn’t _take it_ , I still have it. See?” He lifted his patch to show her, letting the metal sit against his forehead - the green iris was dull, and the obsidian of his pupil was murky. The skin around the eye was marred, almost like scarring from a burn. “I thought it was just gonna be a beat-down or some shit. You know, the usual. But instead of just kickin’ my ass they held me down right outside their camp and poured somethin’ in my eye. Never found out it was - didn’t give a shit. All that really mattered was that it fucked me up for good.”

“Shit, Gage. That’s…”

“Yeah, well. Was a long time ago.”

“How old were you?”

“16.”

Faith winced at that. “You were just a kid.”

“You got shot at 10.”

“And I healed. You have to live with a blind eye.”

“Could’ve been worse…” He paused for a moment, considering what he was going to say next. “I think they were gonna take a couple fingers too, but the boss man stopped ‘em. Connor, his real name was. I don’t remember what stupid shit he called himself back then. ‘The Harvester’ or some shit. He took me into the camp and cleaned me up best he could.”

“So Connor, was he kinda like your Vince?”

Gage laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Y’know, for a while he sorta was. Made me feel… at home. Not that we were close or nothin’ like you two, but I felt like he had my back.”

“What happened to ‘im?”

That made him pause again. “… It’s a long story, Boss.”

“You don’t have to tell me, but I still wanna hear it.”

“Well… I was young and stupid, right? I started gettin’ cocky. Thought every idea I had was genius. So I started makin’ suggestions on how to make shit better, how we could run things smoother. Connor gets word of my blabbin’ and confronts me. First I think I’m in deep shit for questionin’ the way he ran things, but instead he asks me about everything. Listens to me. After that he actually came to me for advice. For a year I was on top of the damn world, thinkin’ I got the ear of the most powerful guy around. Then we make a plan to try and make peace with one of the rival gangs. I’d do the negotiating with three of our biggest guys as backup.”

“And how’d that work out?” Faith asked quietly, already getting a bad feeling.

“It was tough-going at first, but eventually they start comin’ around. Then outta fuckin’ nowhere there’s gunfire outside, explosions. I’m thinkin’, ‘Ah shit, somethin’ went wrong, Connor’s gonna have to bail us out again’. But the more time goes by, I start realizin’… the fucker set me up. He pumped me for all the information I was worth, guess he started seeing me as a threat to his position with all the shit I knew. So he sent me in while he and a bunch of his guys staged a raid, figured I’d die in the crossfire. But I got out alive. Can’t tell you how, but… I did.”

“That…” she made a noise of defeat. “It must’ve been hard to trust anyone after that.”

He huffed out a laugh. “I didn’t. Told myself I’d never be that stupid again. Was never gonna trust that anyone would do anything other than look out for themselves… That’s why _you_ … You’re startin’ to make me feel like a fuckin’ idiot.”

A giggle escaped her, she couldn’t help it. “Aw shucks, Gage.”

He rolled his eyes and gave her shoulder a shove. “All right, all right. You get what I’m sayin’.”

 

* * *

 

Faith’s eyes fluttered closed when she read the sign, then turned to Gage and asked calmly, “What the fuck are bloodworms?”

“They’re… worms,” he answered. “Big ones. With teeth. They pop outta the ground.”

Now she knew why he brought a swatter with him. “This is very much Lucille’s forte.” She took her bat from its holder and propped it against her shoulder.

“Lucille?” Gage repeated in amusement. “You named the bat?”

“It was Vince’s, so he named it. But the Cazadors always gave our weapons titles. My .44 is Fiend Killer, and my shotgun is A Kick in the Head.”

Gage cocked a brow. “Did you name your rifle yet?”

“I did. It’s Problem Solver.”

He chuckled. “Nice, Boss.” He gestured to the gulch’s entrance. “Shall we?”

Faith grimaced, but led ahead. Not even two seconds after they passed through, Bloodworms shot out of the ground. Faith took Lucille to them immediately, and Gage used both his swatter and his boot, the worms he hit sent flying and the ones he stomped splattering.

“You, my friend, are a force to be reckoned with,” Faith smiled after he took down his sixth Bloodworm. “Further in we go.”

 

 

“Fuckin’ hate this park,” Gage mumbled as they ended up in the dirt street.

“Really? Thought you’d like it,” Faith responded.

“Why?”

“I dunno. Your accent, I guess. Kinda sounds like the cowboys from the old western movie holotapes I’d watch on Vince’s Pip Boy when I was a kid. Hey, maybe you can try on one of those outfits on the mannequins down there.”

“Okay, you might be the Overboss but there’s no fuckin’ way you can make me do that.”

“Why? You’d look good in… cow print.” A glare in return. “Not even a hat?” His eyes narrowed, and she sighed. “Fine.”

A protectron wearing a cowboy hat greeted them. “Howdy partners! Welcome to Dry Rock Gulch, where it’s always high noon! Ready to saddle up and ride into the old wild west?”

“Uh…” Faith muttered. “Do you know about the Bloodworms?”

“You must mean the no good outlaws coming out of Mad Mulligan’s Mine. Well partner, if you’re interested in lending a hand, I could use a new deputy. What do you say?”

“Actually…” She moved behind the robot and opened the back panel. “Let’s see if we can make you a little more helpful.”

“Employee manual login recognized. Currently running in full park exhibition mode.”

“How the fuck did you do that?” Gage asked, brows furrowed.

“Ralph taught me all about robots,” she answered.

The robot continued, “Visitors are directed to our three main activity centers - Doc Phosphate’s Saloon, Giddyup Kid’s Corral, and One Eyed Ike’s quick-draw contest. After completing each activity, the visitor will be given part of the combination to the safe that holds the key to Mad Mulligan’s Mine. Signs of life originally believed to be Mine Cart Ride attendants, but may actually be an infestation of deadly worms. advise contracting exterminators. System will now reboot. Have a nice day!”

“Okay,” Faith sighed as they continued on. “So there’s three more robots to deal with. At least they’re not attacki—“ the word turned into a high-pitched scream when a Bloodworm popped up from the ground right in front of her, and she quickly killed it with Lucille. She turned to Gage, seeing his lips turned to a thin line as he tried to hold back a smile.

“You didn’t hear that,” she told him threateningly.

He put his hands palm-side up, jerking his head in a nod, and Faith kept walking. she didn’t waste time with One Eyed Ike, skipping his routine and immediately hacking into it.

“Employee manual login recognized. Exhibition bypass protocol engaged. Handing over part one of this week’s safe combination.”

She took the slip of paper and tucked into her pocket, then went with Gage to Doc Phosphate’s Saloon.

 

“You looked parched there, stranger!” the robot greeted. You know what you need? A bottle of Nuka-Cola Wild! The root-based fla-vor with teeth!”

“Oh,” Faith mumbled, taking the offered drink and uncapping it. “Okay.”

“Hospitality is a big thing here out in Dry Rock Gulch. That’s why I want you to handle tending the bar.”

“Oh no no,” she chuckled. “We are not doing this.” She stretched across the bar top and grabbed the protectron’s arm, spinning it around to access the panel.

“I hope you’re appreciating the view, Gage, because this is hell on my ribs,” she said with a small wiggle of her hips as she worked.

“Oh I am,” he mumbled. “Rest assured, Boss.”

As she worked on the tech to engage the bypass protocol, being bent over the table sparked an idea and heat fluttered in her stomach. Once finished she was given another slip of paper, and she teetered when she reached back to tuck it in her pocket. Then she rolled further down the bar top to get at least a little further away from the robot. “Hey Gage?”

“Yeah Boss.” She heard the chuckle he was holding back.

“Fuck me.”

He sputtered. “Come again?”

She sat up and quickly undid her chest straps, “I’d love to. So hurry up.”

“Boss, there’s a bot just standin’ there.”

“Exactly. Exhibitionism.” She wriggled her hips. “C’mon, cowboy.” She was afraid he’d deny her again, but then his hands were at her hips, yanking down the pants of her harness down to her thighs.

“You are so lucky I ain’t a proper man,” he mumbled.

“Yeah? Show me how lucky.” His fingers glided along her sex, and she heard him grunt.

“How are you so fucking wet already?” he asked, voice low.

“Well you took your sweet time getting over here.”

“Patience isn’t your strong suit, huh, Boss.”

She looked over her shoulder to see Gage giving himself teasing strokes, heated gaze locked on her ass. “Yeah. Definitely not something I have in spades.”

“Hm. Guess I’ll deal with it.” Excitement jolted her when he took hold of her hips, thumbs soothing over her skin.

Faith sunk her teeth into her arm, lips smiling against her skin as he slid into her. Her relieved moan came on a heavy breath, overlapping the strangled noise Gage made. He didn’t stop until his hips pushed her ass higher, and fuck she had forgotten how perfectly he filled her, how his cock stretched her but not painfully so. After an appreciative few moments he slowly pulled out, only to ram back in to start a hard, steady pace.

“Fuck, that’s it,” Faith praised, a carefree grin on her face. With each thrust her body rocked against the bar top, and in a fleeting thought she appreciated that he kept his fingers against the front of her hips to separate them from the sharp edge of the bar top.

And when his thrusts grew harder, the protectron spoke. “No roughhousing on the furniture, partners.”

Faith let out a laugh so hard it came out as a wheeze, and she glanced back at Gage to see him covering his face with his hand, though with a wide grin.

“That, was the last thing I wanted to fuckin’ hear,” he chuckled. “Fuckin’ bot. Let’s make this quick, huh?”

“Yeah,” she sighed with a smile, reaching to grip the bar-top edge above her head as he continued. But just after a few more thrusts, the protectron repeated its warning, but this time lifting a claw along with it.

“Shit!” Faith gasped, and she straightened up, shoving Gage back with her ass and sending them both to the floor, the laser shot burning into the counter. She laid on top of Gage with her back to his chest, not able to contain her laughter. He propped himself up on his elbows, her head angling up with his chest.

“This was… the worst fuckin’ idea,” Gage said, but a chuckle broke apart the sentence.

Faith quickly kicked off the pants of her harness and straddled his hips, her back still facing him. “Let’s keep going.”

“No Faith, we ain’t…”

She looked over her shoulder at him, and they both seemed surprised by his use of her actual name. Deciding to think about it later she took his pause to an advantage, sinking back down onto his cock and smiling when his eyes fluttered closed.

Looking forward again, Faith gripped the bar with one hand and started to bounce, and eventually one of Gage’s hands returned to her body, roaming up her thigh to her hip then gliding up her spine.

Faith was distracted by the rough wood of the saloon’s floor digging into her knees and the protectron’s ever-present watch to fully enjoy it, but damn it if it wasn’t fun. Her fingers went between her thighs to circle her clit when Gage started to buck up against her.

Her orgasm was full and warm, coaxing a bright smile on her face, and Gage took over her pace, his hands gripping her hips to bounce her up and down on his cock for a few more thrusts until he lifted her off of him, coming against her ass and his stomach.

Faith weakly got off of him to lay flat on the floor and stare at the ceiling. “Thanks Gage,” she sighed.

“Any time, Boss,” he responded. “Just not in front of a fuckin’ protectron, okay?”

“Deal.”

 

  
On the way to Giddyup Kid, they were met by Cave Crickets that flew with each bat strike, much to Faith’s amusement.

“Hey Boss, you’re good with locks, ain’t ya?” Gage said. “Why don’t you just pick open the Mine’s door?”

“Because this gives us a chance to clear the outside of the park out and I won’t have to waste picks on failed attempts.” Again she ignored the bot’s routine and effectively skipped it to receive the last combination number. They quickly made their way to the safe, retrieved the key, then entered the mine.

 

 

Faith stared at the dead brahmiluff, something inside its corpse bulging and moving. “That is… one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen.”

Gage simply nodded, then raised his rifle and shot at the creature’s stomach. It burst like it had been stuffed with grenades, and out came three Bloodworms. They made short work of them, especially pissed off that they had been showered with rotting guts.

“Okay, well we’re not doing that again,” Faith sighed.

“Sorry Boss,” Gage grumbled. “Impulse.”

Eventually they made it to the last room - a huge space with a giant sinkhole infested with Bloodworms. Faith threw in three plasma grenades, and that was it. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Oh my,” Mags said quietly. “You two look a little… worse for wear.”

“Park’s yours now,” Faith responded. “Hope your boys don’t mind cleaning up a few Bloodworm corpses.”

“They’ll manage,” William smiled.

“Why don’t you two use our showers?” Mags offered. “We have hot water.”

Faith moaned. “Oh, yes please.”

“Right this way, Overboss.”

 

The shower rooms were across from each other, one for women and the other for men, and in both rooms was a row of shower stalls with curtains as makeshift doors. Faith should have expected this type of luxury from Mags’s crew, but it was still a little surprising.

She lingered in the shower for a while longer than she needed to, but the hot water was just too blissful to get out of. Then another idea popped into her mind - this one a little more sensible than the one at the Gulch.

Peaking out into the corridor first, she skipped across to the men’s shower room, still naked and dripping from a few seconds ago. Making sure no one else was inside, she found Gage’s curtain back and yanked it open, dramatically striking a pose.

Gage’s eyebrows shot up in surprise before he chuckled. “Hey, Boss.”

“I know that look,” Faith said in amusement, closing the curtain again. “You’re calling me a shithead in your mind.”

“Me? I’d never.”

“Mhm, sure.” Gripping the back of his neck she pulled him down into a kiss, and Gage’s hands went right to her waist. He got the gist fairly quickly, spinning them around and pushing Faith against the wall opposite the curtain. He lifted her up and wrapped her legs around him, planting both hands on her ass to keep her suspended. Faith reached between them and took his cock in her hand, stoking slow and steady and Gage licked a droplet of water from her throat, following the trail up to her jawline before she captured him in another kiss. Once he was ready for her he didn’t waste time, probably eager to make up for the fun and well-ending disaster from earlier. Fucking in public made the act a little less gratifying with the hinting worry of being caught always looming, but it added a new kind of excitement.

Faith’s whimpers and breathy moans echoed off the tile walls, and smile stayed on her lips as Gage fucked her slow and smoothly.

Then, of course, the door to the room opened, and in came two pairs of feet on the floor. Gage kept still as the men went through a leisurely routine of getting undressed and into their individual showers, a casual conversation between them.

Faith met Gage’s eyes and smiled, the tip of her tongue against a canine tooth. Gage glanced away for a moment, clearly not sure he wanted to risk it, but then he put a finger to his lips and quietly hushed her. Faith nodded desperately, and he started up again.

The pace was slow but Faith was already having a tough time keeping quiet, because even when he was putting in minimal effort Gage felt amazing. The conversation passing to the right of their stall did a good job to drown out their breathing, though, which she was thankful for.

She noticed Gage’s jaw clench, and suddenly his hand slapped over her mouth, followed by a sharp thrust that made her cry out. The noise was muffled by his palm and so was every other noise that followed as Gage continued a deeper pace, a smug, satisfied grin on his face.

Faith reached between them and circled her clit, plotting revenge for almost blowing their cover. She bucked crudely against his thrusts until she came, just like she had the first night and fuck the desperation was embarrassing but it was just too good.

Then, to Gage’s confusion, she lowered her legs and pushed him away. He stared at her with furrowed brows until she spun them around, pushing him against the wall and getting on her knees in front of him.

His head hit the wall as soon as she took him in her mouth, the thump echoing in the room. The conversation next to them stopped, and Faith locked her eyes with Gage’s, her lips wrapped around the base of his cock.

“You okay, man?” one of the Operators asked.

“Fine,” he bit out.

“… Okay. So anyway—” The conversation continued, and Gage relaxed.

Faith slowly dragged her lips up his cock, tongue laving at the underside, then slid them back down, sucking gently the further she took him. She hummed in approval when his hand went to her head, three fingers burying into her hair while his trigger finger and thumb twitched against the shaved part of her scalp.

Faith made short work of him, keeping her eyes locked as he struggled harder and harder to keep silent. When he tried to pull her back she just took him deeper, her throat tightening around the head of his cock and swallowing around him when he came. She kept at it until he let out a nearly inaudible grunt, and she let his soft cock fall from her mouth before standing up and kissing him fully, letting him taste himself.

Then she was gone, retreating back to the women’s showers to get dressed. She met Gage out in the corridor and they exchanged a glance before leaving The Parlor.

 

"That was _not_ fair," Gage argued as soon as they were outside.

"You started it," Faith countered, then she cocked a brow. "What, was it not worth it?"

"No, it was." A slow grin spread on his face. "So fuckin' worth it."

 

Back at Fizztop they talked for a few hours and shared a couple drinks, but Gage kept an eye on the clock this time, sending them both off to bed around 2am. They were supposed to head for Safari Adventure bright and early. Faith went to her bed smiling, noticing how Gage was growing more comfortable with her. He dropped the right-hand man air, easily bantered with her when she decided to be a smart ass, joked around with her and even teased her when given the opportunity. It felt like they were friends, and she hoped Gage thought the same.

 

* * *

 

_Neon lights, strong drinks and cigarette smoke, the sound of laughter and chips clinking, celebratory howls and shouts of disappointment. Understood glances from the table dealers, subtle nods and winks._

_Strolling down The Strip with Aviator, dramatically singing along to whatever old-world song was echoing from the street speakers while Hijack and Johnny stayed quiet behind them, smirks on their faces that would no doubt be saying “Fuckin’ shitheads. We love you.”_

_A flicker of the scene, and they were all in front of her. But no one was smiling, no hands clasped onto her shoulder, and there were no howls of greeting and laughter._

_They were being slaughtered. The Courier wasted them one by one, seemingly impervious to the bullets that he soaked into his body. Faith couldn’t move, couldn’t help them defend themselves. She could only watch and call out to them to just run, scream at the Courier to stop killing her people. They fell to the desert ground, their heads turned to her, their dead eyes asking the same question._

_Why weren’t you here for us?_

_But Vince’s… Vince’s eyes asked a different question. A question that wrenched her heart, stuffed a lump into her throat and filled her chest with a sickening kind of smoke._

_Why’d you let me die, kiddo._

  
Faith woke up with a sharp gasp, bolting upright so quickly it almost made her head hurt. Her breath was heaving, her chest ached and hot tears stained her cheeks.

_Distraction. Need a distraction._

_Gage._

She threw the blanket off and didn’t bother to put on clothes before hurrying to the apartment doors and throwing them open. But halfway to Gage’s open room, a silent voice scolded her.

_You can’t use him._

She stopped in place, breath still heavy.

_He isn’t here just to be used as a distraction from guilt. He’s a good man. As good as a Raider can be._

Her fucking conscience sure knew when to ruin a good time. She turned around, and Gage’s voice called out.

“Boss? That you?”

She hurried back out to the patio and closed the doors behind her, then locked them before jumping back into bed. Usually when she had dreams like that she'd wake Vic up and he'd sit with her on the couch, her head in his lap as his fingers raked through the roots of her hair. Now, without him, she threw the blanket over her head and started counting poker chips in her mind to keep her thoughts busy. But her bitch of a conscience chanted beyond the image of the gambling table.

_It’s all your fault. It’s all your fault. It’s all your fucking fault._

 

* * *

 

Gage was always a light sleeper, had to be to stay alive out here, and the heavy breathing had woken him up.

Now he stared into the middle distance, brows furrowed as he heard her footsteps rush away, followed by the slam of the door. He stood up and yanked a pair of jeans on, then strode to the doors only to find them locked.

“Boss?” he called, loud but uncertain. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she called back. “Sorry. Was sleepwalking.”

Gage winced - her words were clipped in an attempt to hide it, but he had heard the waver in her voice. His hand hovered above the handle curled into a fist, little finger against the door. He swallowed hard, and his brows furrowed. He didn’t know why his chest felt so tight, why he had the urge to pick the door open and ask why she had locked it in the first place. Why didn’t she want him to see her?

A choked gasp muffled by the door, and his jaw clenched. His lips parted, ready to call out again, to be more insistent, but it had caught in his throat. Instead he lowered his fist and relaxed.

“Well, I’m here if you need me, Boss… I fuckin’ mean that.” He turned away, just barely hearing her response as he walked away.

“I know, Gage.”


	12. Chapter 12

Faith woke up with a weak body, having cried longer than she had in months. She felt empty, but it was better than being weighed down. Still naked she sat up, one leg curled in while the other swung down from the mattress, and glanced at her Pip Boy. _9\. Should leave for Safari soon._

It was then that she remembered she never unlocked the door. Hurriedly she put on her bra and yanked on her harness, clasping the chest straps as she made her way to the doors. She flicked the lock up and opened them. “Gage?”

“Yeah, Boss.” He stepped out of his room, already dressed with his rifle on his back. “I’m ready when you are.”

“How long have you been awake?” she asked as he passed her.

“About an hour. Was just about to knock.”

“Okay, well let me just rehydrate and eat real quick. You hungry?”

“I could eat, if you’re makin’ enough for two.”

She smiled. “I always do.”

 

* * *

 

“So does anyone know what’s out here?” Faith asked as they approached Safari Adventure.

“Nope. No one’s bothered to come out this far. Least, no one has and come back alive.” Still a good distance away Faith stopped them, seeing something large move just passed the Park’s entrance.

“See anything?” Gage asked as Faith looked through the scope of her rifle.

Through it she could see a massive creature resembling a Deathclaw, but with dark green scales and an elongated mouth. “Wow, look at that thing that can just fuck right off.”

“Lemme see.”

A man appeared in her view, swinging a board at the creature with surprising strength, as it staggered it. “Hold on. What the hell…?” A massive clawed hand was lifted above the stranger, and Faith instinctively squeezed the trigger, shooting the creature’s head but not quite killing it. A second bullet, however, did the trick. She slapped Gage’s bicep as a silent order to follow, and they sprinted into the park.

“You there!” the stranger greeted loudly, board still in hand. “You kill monster. You friend?”

“Maybe,” Faith answered warily. “Wanna tell me what that thing was?”

“That thing monster.”

She nodded once. “Uh huh. Why are you talking like that?”

“Cito sorry Cito no speak good. Cito family don’t talk. You, you kill monster. Monster strong, but you stronger.”

“My _rifle’s_ stronger. That thing would tear me apart. What was it? Some kind of Deathclaw?”

“Death… Claw? Cito not know. Cito only know ‘death’ bad and monster bad. Many more monster. No stop.”

Faith saw Gage’s head tip back in the corner of her eye as he turned on his heel. “Well, do you know where they’re coming from?”

“Cito think nest is in big building, strange shape. Cito help new friends?”

“We got it, big guy. Why don’t you go back to your family? We’ll find you when we’re done.”

“Mm… Cito will protect family.”

“Out of the things that I expected,” Gage said, “it sure as shit wasn’t a bunch of Deathclaw hybrids and a half naked jungle man. What are we gonna do about him and whoever his family is?”

“Depends. Guess we’ll have to meet his family before deciding anything.”

 

“So how are we gonna play this?” Gage whispered, both of them crouched on the balcony overlooking the lobby. One of the creatures lurked below a good distance away.

Faith answered by perching onto the banister, staying crouched as she sought the creature with her scope. Three bullets to its head took it down.

“Nice shot, Boss,” Gage said.

“Thanks. Let’s go find where these things are coming from.” She jumped from the banister to land in the lobby, and she heard Gage grumble above her.

“Oh yeah, why take the stairs that are right here, rather break an ankle than waste two fuckin’ seconds.”

She smiled. “What was that, cowboy?”

“Just tellin’ myself how well I did at picking such a wonderful and talented Overboss.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as he came down the stairs, but a smile curved her lips. “Hm. Come on.”

Making it to a door that led deeper into the building, Faith hacked into the control terminal and unlocked it, and they headed down to the basement that doubled as a cloning facility. “Old-world folks were fuckin’ crazy,” Gage mumbled, looking around the main room while Faith shut down the cloning machine.

“The logs on this terminal are by some guy who tried to use this to make docile Deathclaw hybrids to protect him,” Faith mentioned. "Gatorclaws he called 'em."

“Well, guess folks now are crazy too. Does the terminal say how many of those fuckers there are?”

“Currently 27 clones.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, I agree.” She powered down the terminal. “Fuck.” Her brows furrowed as she stared at the ground, trying to think of a smooth way to do this. “Hey, you see that tree house at the center of the park? If we can get up there we’ll have a good view of the whole place, and I can pick the claws off with my rifle.”

“Good plan,” Gage said, following her out. “You sure are havin’ a good time with that rifle, aren’t you.”

“Yes, mostly because when I see Vic again I can brag about how many headshots I chalked up while away. Anyway, let’s try to get to the treehouse without getting noticed. I don’t think we’ll do too well up close and personal with one of those claws.”

 

* * *

 

Gage followed close behind as they made their way to the maze. They heard the occasional growl, but didn’t come head to head with any of the claws. Rain was steadily falling now, putting a content smile on the Overboss’s face. She had taken her jacket from her pack and shrugged it on, her hands stuffed in her pockets.

“Boss, you better be ready in case somethin’ comes runnin’ for us.”

“I’m fine, Gage. See?” She removed her hands in a flash only to stuff them back in.

“Yeah. All right.”

Suddenly a low hiss came from somewhere above Gage, and Faith slowly turned around, eyes casting up. Before Gage could do the same, she lurched forward and drove into him with all her weight to shove him down, and within a second she was sent flying a few yards away by a massive clawed hand.

The edges of Gage’s mind froze, heated terror spiked up his neck from his chest and his whole body tensed. A roar came from above him and kicked him into gear, and he scrambled for his rifle, sending three bullets into the Gatorclaw's head. The creature fell back, shaking the ground around him.

Gage felt like his head was being squeezed by a Super Mutant as he stood up and ran to Faith. She lay there unmoving on her side, eyes closed. 

“Boss? Boss!” he rolled her onto her back. “Hey!”

“Shush, Gage. Suffering from some whiplash here,” she groaned suddenly. “Thank God this jacket is lined with polymer. You okay?”

Gage nearly passed out from relief and sat back on his haunches. “Am I fuckin’ okay, are you a goddamned idiot? Why the fuck would you do that?”

Faith sat up and rolled her shoulder with a wince. “What d’you mean.”

“You pushed me outta the way, you could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

She glanced away for a moment, then simply shrugged, expression clueless. “Yeah?”

“So why the fuck would you do that?!” he tried to will himself to calm down, but he couldn’t. 

“‘Cause you would’ve gotten hurt if I hadn’t. It had its claws ready to tear into you.”

“Better me than you.”

“Well, that’s not how I see it.” She stood up, and Gage found himself hovering a protective hand over her.

“What the hell do you mean? You’re the goddamn Overboss!”

“So you’d find a new one.”

“You think that’d be easy for me?”

Again she shrugged. “It was pretty easy when it came to Colter, right?”

Why did that feel like a slap in the face? “You really think Colter’s even comparable to you?”

“Take it easy, Gage. We’re both alive, right? I don’t know why you’re getting so upset.”

His eyes fluttered closed, and he rubbed at his forehead, turning away. “You don’t fuckin’ know,” he mocked. “Let’s just get to the damn treehouse. Stay where I can fuckin’ see you, yeah?”

She put her hands up in defense. “Yes sir.”

 

* * *

 

Faith could feel the anger melting off of Gage as they made their way through the maze. They took a lift up, finding the treehouse to be a decent resting spot - tables, a couple bedrolls, rations.

“Okay,” Faith sighed, shrugging off her jacket. “You stay down here.” She stepped onto the railing to climb up to the roof, but Gage hooked his fingers through the loop of her harness and pulled her back.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re goin’,” he said, and Faith made a noise of disgust, swatting his arm away.

“Why do you and Vic think my back loop is just there to grab? I can get a better view up on the roof, so I’m heading up there.”

“In the rain? You’ll fall to your death.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ve been in this exact situation before. Well, not exactly, there weren’t Deathclaw hybrids around, but you know what I mean. Just wait here, okay?”

After a moment he sighed and nodded, taking a seat at one of the tables. Faith climbed up onto the roof and got comfortable.

 

  
“You kill all the monsters?” Cito exclaimed. “Cito happy new friends could help. How Cito thank you?”

“I have some friends moving into the Park,” Faith explained, trying to ignore the smell of the Primate House. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find that Cito’s family were a bunch of ghoulrillas. “Think you can share with them? I promise they won’t hurt you or your family.”

“… Cito will let friends in. But Cito will protect family if Cito needs to.”

 

* * *

 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Mason smiled. “You cleared the whole place out already?”

“Sure did,” Faith answered, trying not to smile at the scratch and bite marks that decorated the Alpha's body. “Your men can move in when they’re ready. But I have a friend living there too, and I want you to tell your guys not to hurt him or his family, okay?”

“A friend, huh? Sure, Boss.” He stood up to tower over her. “Hey, wanna spend a little more time together?” He leaned down, his lips to her ear and his voice lowering. “I’ll let you sit on my throne while I get nice and comfortable on my knees in front of ya. Get a little more color on those thighs of yours.”

Faith’s eyes fluttered closed and her body swayed for a moment, but she managed to control herself. “Told you that was a one-off, big guy. Much as I’d enjoy it.”

“Hey, you can’t blame a man for tryin’.” He straightened up. “Thanks again, boss lady. We appreciate it.”

“‘Course. We’ll go after Kiddie Kingdom tomorrow.”

“And when you do that, there’s only gonna be one park left. Nisha’s not gonna be happy if you don’t give her at least one.”

A laugh bubbled up from her throat. “You trying to do Gage’s job?”

Mason glanced at the man standing behind her. “Nah. Just some friendly advice.”

“It’s appreciated, but not needed.”

“‘Course, Boss. See you around.”

She gave his bicep a squeeze. “See ya, big guy.”

Gage followed her out. “He’s right about Nisha.”

“I know,” Faith mumbled. “Guess she’ll get the Bottling Plant. Don’t wanna tell her myself, though. Maybe get that friend of yours to do it. What was her name? Dixie?”

“She ain’t my friend,” he told her sternly. “But I could ask her. What, you scared to do it yourself?”

“I just don’t like the masks… Hey, you wanna have a drink with me when we get back to Fizztop?”

Gage smiled. “Sure, Boss.”

_He isn’t angry anymore. Good._


	13. Chapter 13

Just fifteen minutes back and Faith’s cheeks were starting to ache from smiling so much. She stood behind the bar with her arms resting against it, dressed in her cropped tank top and shorts and her Pip Boy off, listening to more of Gage’s small stories about his years with different gangs. He had changed back into his tank top, and Faith had a special appreciation for the revealing piece of clothing.

The conversation eventually drifted off to Faith’s tales, including one of the robot named FISTO.

Gage choked on his drink at the name. “It seemed clever, okay?” Faith said in defense, still smiling. “So after testing it out I took it back to—“

“Wait, wait, wait,” Gage said, waving his hand. “You tested it? You fucked a robot.”

“Well when you say it like that it sounds ridiculous. And I didn’t fuck the robot, the robot fucked me.”

Gage chuckled, shaking his head. “That is… incredible, Boss.”

“I couldn’t feel my legs after, and I got a scar from it. Wanna see?” She didn’t wait for his answer and hopped up onto the bar-top, swinging her legs over to his side and lifting her right thigh to show the faint scar that was like a shadow of a protectron claw.

“Damn,” Gage mumbled, nearly sounding impressed.

“Uh-huh. Guess that’s what someone gets when they make a protectron into a sexbot.”

He grinned and touched her inner thigh, thumb soothing over the scar. Even with how soft the touch was, Faith felt heat wash through her. Gage’s smile faltered, and his grip on her thigh tightened, fingers denting into the generous flesh.

A heavy sigh escaping, Faith put her hand to his jaw, thumb tipping his chin up so she could lean down and kiss him. It was firm and desperate and when his lips parted she could taste whiskey on his tongue. He grabbed her other thigh and slid her down the bar closer to him until her thighs caged his torso, then dumped her into his lap without breaking the kiss.

Faith’s heart was pounding as she crudely ground against him, taking in a sharp breath through her nose as his hands roamed up her ribcage to push her undershirt over her breasts. She fumbled with his belt, and in the back of her mind she was surprised. She should’ve been adept at this considering her experience with the troublesome things. She chalked it up to him just having a stupid belt.

Impatient, Gage stood up and sat her on the bar top, sliding her ass closer to the edge and yanking off her shorts, hissing a curse when he found that she wore no underwear. Faith brought him into another rough kiss, moaning into his mouth when she felt his fingers glide along her sex before pushing inside her. His thumb circled her clit as he undid his belt, shoving his pants just passed his hips and just enough to free himself.

Faith broke the kiss as soon as he started to slide into her achingly slow, her mouth open in a silent moan. Heat smoldered in her stomach, filling her chest with thick smoke, sparks sticking to her ribcage and she had never felt something quite like this but she loved it, she fucking loved it. And she loved how Gage handled her, hooking one of her legs over his arm as he gripped her hip, his other hand gripping the opposite thigh, pushing it out so he could thrust deeper. Moans and whimpers were flowing out of her, and through hooded eyes she saw a smirk tug at Gage’s lips.

“Say my name, honey,” he told her, and fuck she had missed the pet names, hearing them in the thrum of his voice.

“Gage,” she breathed, and she noticed another tug at the corner of his mouth.

“Try again.”

Her brows would’ve furrowed if her expression wasn’t frozen in pleasure. “I thought y-you didn’t— _fuck_ —didn’t like people s-saying your name.”

“Not when you’re the one sayin’ it.”

That made her happier than it should have. She let her body fall back onto the bar-top with a quiet thump, her hands lashing back above her head to grip the edge. “Porter,” she whispered, barely audible but she needed to make sure it didn’t bother him. She was rewarded with a deep roll of his hips, her ass lifting off the bar for a moment. Her body jolted and her breasts bounced with the force of his thrusts, and she moaned. “ _Porter_.”

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he praised, lifting her leg from his arm to prop it on his shoulder. “Fuck, you’re a stunner.” His hand left her thigh to travel up her hip to her waist, finally resting against the side of her ribcage.

His thrusts were rough and deep, his angle fucking perfect and Faith knew she couldn’t last much longer. “ _Gage_.”

“Uh-uh,” he chided lightly, and he slowed down.

“Porter!” she cried, because she’d do anything for him to just keep pounding into her, she’d crawl and beg if he asked. She had never felt this desperate before, this needy and enraptured and full. It was nearly shameful and almost scary, because it shouldn’t be this good. There was something there that she’d never felt with any other partners and she didn’t know what it was. Gage was handsome and well built, she’d give him that, but she’s had bigger, she's had people who were fucking _masterpieces_ but they never made her feel this… present.

The thoughts scattered as soon as she came. Gage kept thrusting as her body squirmed and her back arched, his pace turning erratic. “C’mon baby, keep comin’ for me,” he thrummed, and it’s like her body needed to obey because the pleasure kept coming in waves, only dying down when he pulled out of her.

“Holy shit,” she panted after a few moments, and she heard Gage choke out a laugh. “Carry me to the bed?” He placed a quick kiss on her taut stomach before gingerly scooping her up.

Faith stretched languidly as soon as she hit the mattress, suddenly feeling energized again. 

“Night Boss,” Gage said quietly, and she looked up at him.

 _Wait, really? Shit, I thought… Does he not want to?_ “Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

Gage let the doors shut behind him with a quiet click and leaned against them, rubbing his hand over his face before pushing off them and heading for his room.

Fucking was supposed to be just that. Fucking. It was about getting a body and driving into it, and his Overboss had one hell of a body. But being with her, it somehow felt like… more. He was more focused on her, hyper-aware of the feeling of her, how her soft skin dented under his tight grip. He wanted to make it good for her, wanted her to feel the fuckin’ best when he was inside her, because that was half of the pleasure for him.

And that, as far as he was concerned, was bullshit. He didn’t want to ‘connect’, he just wanted to feel a cunt wrapped around him, fuck until he was sated then knock out.

But one round for a night… that rarely sated him. So he laid in his bed restless, wondering why he jumped the gun and left without giving her a chance to say anything.

The door clicked open, and he quickly stood up, worrying about being locked in again. Or, locked out.

And there the Overboss stood, naked and roughed up and so fucking perfect. She stalked towards him, lips slightly parted. “Wanna go again?” she asked, almost sounding shy.

Gage grinned. “Fuck yes.”

“Good.” She shoved him hard with a grunt, sending him to the floor, and she stood over him before getting to her knees, straddling his hips. “So rude, leaving before I could get a word in edgewise.”

He chuckled. “Won’t happen again, Boss.”

She took his jaw in her hand, plump lips cocked in a lighthearted snarl. “It better not.” She leaned down and kissed him, and his heart swelled in his chest.

_Bullshit._

He rolled her off so he was on top, then got on his knees with her legs hooked around him. He gripped the back of her thighs in his hands and spread them apart, his thumbs feeling the silken wet pleasure that coated her inner thighs. He thrust into her and she was still so wet, taking him in so fucking beautifully, just like she always did. He watched her arms reach over her head, her nails clawing at the gritty floor and those plump lips falling around a frayed moan.

And her laugh came to mind. Her fucking _laugh_. Made with the warm smoke of her voice, bubbling up from her throat or coming out loud, unabashed, fucking melodic. Even when she choked on it, when it came out as a wheeze it just made him feel good, made him grin like an idiot.

 _Just fucking,_ he reminded himself sternly. It needed to be, so he let go of her thighs and leaned over her, one of his hands bracing next to her head while the other wrapped around her neck. His next thrust was harder, and he felt the moan under his palm. It was cruel, it was rough and it grouped her in with his other lays.

But his thumb soothed over her jawline, and he met her eyes. There was no lust-clouded panic that his partners felt because they weren’t strangers, she didn’t see him as just another Raider. She trusted him, the look in the bright grey of her eyes told him so.

“Baby,” he croaked, and mentally he kicked himself like a rad-rat because it was just so intimate, but the way her eyes fluttered closed when he said it just excused himself for him, which was just a pain in the ass. He didn’t need that right now, not when she felt so fucking amazing wrapped around him, tightening around him with every other thrust.

Gage leaned over her and pressed his forehead to the ground so he didn’t have to look at her, a small price to pay but he had to. He swore he could still smell the smoke of high-end cigarettes in her hair from spending hours in casinos and fuck him he could _see it_. He could see her sitting at one of the gambling tables, smoke lingering in the air around her, lips curved in a smile and eyes cast down on a hand of cards. She was truly relaxed, she was happy, she was home and she was with him. He was right there next to her, and she was telling him how right she was about him liking the Strip.

 _Bullshit bullshit bullshit_ —

A strangled wheeze and he realized how tight his grip had gotten. He loosened the pressure and Faith took in a gasp, her throat thrumming under his palm. Gage pulled out and sat up with her, and the sight of her rubbing at her neck, tears pricking her eyes, it goddamn hurt. There was a moment of fear that filled his chest, but then her silver brows furrowed, and something glinted in her eyes. She pulled him into a kiss, a furious, searing kiss with enough passion and anger to set Gage’s body on fire. He stood them up and quickly walked her over to the table, pushing the terminal off before spinning Faith around so her back was to him. She knocked her shoulder back to hit him hard in the chest, and in turn he shoved her down to bend her over the table. This was good, he could work with this.

He kept her down with a hand between her shoulder blades and slid into her again, not bothering to start gentle before setting a deep, rough pace. His anger from earlier was starting to flare again. He had tried to let it go, tried to just be grateful that she saved him and relieved that they were both all right. But she shouldn’t have fucking done that, shouldn’t have risked her life just for his.

He took her hair in his grip and wrenched her head so she was looking at him. Her teeth were bared and clenched, but her eyes glinted with want and her nails dug into the table from pleasure.

“You will _never_ do that again,” he thrummed, knowing she’d get what he meant.

“No promises,” she managed, crying out with his next thrust. Her hands scrambled for purchase on the shaking table, and Gage took one of her wrists to pin it to the small of her back.

“Never again,” he growled. “Do you hear me?” Defiantly she kicked her leg back, nailing him on his thigh, and in turn he made sure his next thrust drove her harder into the table. He twisted her hair in his fist and stopped. "Do you _hear me_?"

“Yes!” she finally cried. “Yes Gage, I hear you, just please don’t stop!” She growled out a moan when he did as she said, his thrusts faster now. "Holy _shit_."

He glanced between them to watch her ass bounce each time he rammed into her, then back to the twisted expression of bliss on her face. "Say my name." 

“ _Porter_.”

“Louder.”

“Porter!” She was letting out weak, frayed cries with every other thrust now, desperate gasps and curses in between.

“You wanna come?” he asked her. “Beg me for it.” This was her punishment, he thought - a little humiliation. She snarled and struggled against him, at the same time canting her hips to get a better angle. Gage slammed her back down with a hold on the nape of her neck, then slowly started to pull out.

"No no!" she cried, desperately trying to push back against him. "Okay! Please, please Gage! Fuck, _please_.“

“Please...?”

“Please make me come! Fuck, pleasepleaseplease--" Her entire body coiled like a spring and her thighs quivered as she came, her cunt tightening around him nearly hard enough to make it hurt. She cried his name, the name only she was allowed to say, her voice desperate and pleading as she chanted _Need you, need you, need you_. Gage draped himself over her, his burning chest to her back, and slowed his pace, no longer pulling out but just thrusting into her. The table inched forward with each shove as he came inside her, cursing at the obscene moan that ripped from the Overboss's throat.

His anger faded with his high, and something sat heavy in his chest as he pulled out of her, leaving Faith limp on the table. Her upper body lifted rhythmically with her heaving chest. Gage's eyes moved down to leer at the sight between her trembling legs - silken arousal wetting her thighs and his come dripping from her. "Don't move," he told her, and she simply nodded weakly, eyes remaining closed. With shaky legs Gage went to the bathroom and dampened a clean cloth, then returned to Faith and crouched down to clean her up. First her thighs, then turning the cloth over and gently swiping over her sex. After nipping her thigh he stood up, slowly gliding his hands up her waist. Faith had been quiet this whole time, and unease was starting settle in Gage's stomach.

"Boss," he muttered, hating the uncertainty in his voice. Wordlessly she rolled onto her back, and avoiding his eyes she wrapped herself around him. Gage slid her off the table and hefted her in his arms, carrying her out of the apartment and over to her bed. He laid her down and pulled the blanket over her, then she met his eyes and he swallowed passed the lump in his throat. He stayed hovering over her, one hand braced beside her and the other on her shoulder.

Faith raised her hand to cup his face, and his eyes fluttered closed in what was almost a wince. He felt her thumb softly brush over the tips of his eyelashes before soothing over his cheek. It was too gentle, too intimate, too meaningful but he couldn’t pull away. Her hand lowered to his jaw, and he kissed her thumb when it touched his lips.

Then contact was gone, and he straightened up. “Night, Boss.”

She smiled weakly. “Night, Gage.”

 

* * *

 

“--C'mon, wake up.”

Faith took in a deep breath through her nose and hugged her pillow. “One sec…”

“Sure. I’ll be over at the bar.”

She sat up slowly, grimacing as aches made themselves known. A pain in the ass, but Gage needed to let his frustration out last night, and out on _her_. Not that she was complaining. It was an amazing night, though she had worried about him. Something was off with him inside the Fizztop apartment. She could feel it weighing on him, he was wallowing in something. Though it had changed with his tightening grip.

She shook her thoughts away and put on her shorts and tank top, walking over to the bar with a pep in her step. “Hungry?” she asked with a smile.

Gage smiled back - a relieving thing to see. “I could eat.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “You can just tell me you’re hungry,” she suggested, opening the fridge.

“That what Vic does?”

“Oh, he never shuts up about food. And I bet two thousand caps that the next time I see him, he’ll mention food within the first three minutes.”

“Jesus,” Gage chuckled, “you always bet that high?”

“‘That high’? That’s the lowest I go.”

“What’s the highest you’ve ever gone?”

“100,000.”

He choked on his coffee. “Caps?!”

“I get wrapped up in the moment.”

“I’ll fuckin’ say.”

“Vince almost kicked my ass for that one. Think he would’ve, if I had lost.”

Gage cocked a brow. “So you won.”

“I _always_ win…” She turned back to the stove, and the added word came as a mumble. “Almost.”


	14. Chapter 14

“So you don’t know anything about this park either, other than it's irradiated,” Faith said as they approached Kiddie Kingdom.

“Sorry Boss,” Gage responded. “I got nothin’.”

“Hm.” She grabbed Lucille and balanced it against the back of her neck, both arms draped on either side. “Let’s find out, then.”

Stepping inside, they found the park to be fogged with radiation like expected. Faith took out two lower-face gas masks and handed one to Gage, and a voice came from the park’s speakers.

“ _Well now friends, it seems we have more uninvited guests to the park! Up, up performers! It’s time for another show!_ ”

The gurgling and screeching of ferals came from ahead, and Faith sighed. “Fucking hate shamblers."

“Let’s try not to waste bullets on ‘em,” Gage suggested, taking his swatter off his back.

“Agreed.” She swung Lucille down from her shoulders and headed towards a couple of ferals, taking both down with four swings between them.

They continued through the park as the voice taunted them, and with each swing of Lucille Faith grew more and more irritated. Finally the voice offered them a short list of places to check, starting with the Fun House. They both pulled down their masks once inside.

“ _Welcome boys and girls to… the Fun House!_ ” the voice announced once the door closed behind them. “ _And aren’t we having fun._ ”

“I’m going to have fun bludgeoning you to death, you absolute shit,” Faith grumbled, heading through the doors and into a maze of mirrors.

“ _Don’t worry, the mirrors are too dirty to reflect anything,_ ” the voice said. “ _In your case I’d say that’s a benefit._ ”

Faith let out a chilling growl of a laugh, then smashed her way through every mirror until she reached the other side. Through the next door was a corridor with a conveyor belt as the floor. At the end was a window looking into the control room, and there stood a Glowing One in a tall hat and tuxedo. He waved cheekily at them, and Faith bolted down the conveyor belt, having to go as quickly as she could to reach the next hall. A wire snapped, and grenades fell onto the belt.

“Gage, watch out!” she screamed, the warning followed by the explosion that destroyed the belt. She tried to see passed the resulting cloud. “Gage?!”

“I’m fine, Boss,” he answered lowly, walking through the dissipating smoke.

“Oh,” Faith breathed out, wobbling on her feet. “God, that scared me. Okay, let’s keep going.”

The next room was a pool of murky water and spinning Nuka bottles with platforms wrapped half around them. Faith hopped across without a problem and pressed on.

“Boss, wait,” Gage called from the first bottle.

“I’m getting that fucking ghoul Gage,” she called back, and she just barely heard Gage’s response before getting too far to hear him.

“Faith, stay where I can fuckin’ see you!”

She felt a bit bad for going ahead of him, but she wasn’t about to let the enemy get away. So she rushed through the spinning cylinder halls, black and green spiraling with the walls, and jumped over the gaps in the last one. It led her into a room with furniture and doors in obscure places, but she passed through easily. The next hallways led to a room filled with ferals, the spiral floor spinning quickly. After tossing in a couple grenades to kill them quickly, the jumped in herself and looked through the several doors until she found the next hall.

That seemed to be the end of the Fun House, and she sprinted down the tunnel to the control room, but the Glowing One was nowhere inside.

“ _Sorry! Already gone, little raider!_ ”

Faith let out a screeching growl and took Lucille to the terminal, swinging until it was nothing but broken parts and sparks.

“The fuck are you doing?”

She stopped with the bat dented into the panel and whipped her head to look at Gage. “The fucker got the drop on me! I went through that bullshit and he still got away!”

“We’ll get ‘im, just calm down. And don’t leave me behind like that, all right?”

“Hey, I go ahead, I don’t ‘leave behind’,” Faith corrected, prying Lucille from bent metal.

“Well whatever you call it, don’t do that shit.”

She propped Lucille on her shoulder and cocked a brow. “You gonna _punish me_ for that too, Porter?” She caught the glint in his eyes before passing him, and smiled when he mumbled to himself behind her.

“Just fuckin’ might, sweetheart.”

 

 

 

Faith wouldn’t be nearly as annoyed if the Glowing One wasn’t constantly taunting them through the speakers. “I’m gonna shove a fuckin’ grenade up his ass,” she mumbled as they neared the Theatre.

“Christ, woman, you sure do get annoyed easy,” Gage responded.

“Are you _not_ annoyed by this?”

He simply shrugged and pushed open the doors.

“ _You’ve finally arrived! Quickly, the show is about to begin!_ ” the Ghoul announced. Faith took the lead into the main room, where unmoving ferals littered the floor. “Gage, sever a leg from each of them,” Faith ordered over a woman’s recorded voice announcing the next act, Oswald the Outrageous. “Glowing Ones can resurrect.”

“On it.” He went to work, hacking off the legs with his swatter.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think you’d make it this far,” the Ghoul, apparently called Oswald, said, appearing on the stage above them. Faith immediately grabbed her pistol and shot at him, only for him to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

“Oh that’s bullshit,” she grumbled. He appeared again in front of her, and this time she wasn’t so quick to pull the trigger.

“You two aren’t like my usual invaders, but you sure do have the same temper,” he said. “When the bombs fell, everything changed. We changed. And somehow, I received a gift. Actual magic, the stuff of legends. Perhaps you’d like to see more?” He emitted the blast of radiation that Glowing Ones possessed and the ferals on the ground came to life, only to desperately squirm and claw at the ruined carpet with a leg missing from each of them.

Faith _tsk_ ed, the sound trailing into a mocking sound of pity. “Looks like they’re having a little trouble.” The Glowing One growled and lunged forward with his serrated sword, but she easily dodged to the side.

“Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kiss _my ass_ ,” she taunted, swinging at him with her fist. She hooked him in the jaw, hearing the brittle bone crunch from the impact. Not very effective, but satisfying. She went to knee him in the gut, but again he disappeared.

A puff of smoke behind her, a shout from Gage, then the sound of a blade plunging into flesh. Her eyes widened, and she jerked around to see the ghoul’s sword protruding from Gage’s waist. He lifted his gun to the Ghoul’s head and fired, but again there was smoke. Following the burst was the sound of his sword ripping from Gage’s body before the Raider collapsed. Faith was beside him even before the smoke had cleared.

“Gage?” she breathed, putting a hand to his face. “Gage.” Another huff of breath when he opened his eyes.

“That fuckin’ hurt,” he growled.

“Oh, you cowboy son-of-a-bitch,” she said in the rush of a sigh, and took out two stimpaks to inject them near the wound. “Why the fuck would you do that!”

“Reckon the same reason you pushed me outta the way of that claw.”

“No, I can do that but you, you don’t get to do this. I didn’t save you just so you could save me. You know how close he was to killing you?”

He sat up with a grunt, the wound almost completely healed. “Take it easy, Boss, we’re both alive, right?”

She made a dramatic noise of disgust at his mirroring. “You…” She shook her head and stood up, then offered him her hand. “Fuck you.”

Gage chuckled and wrapped his hand around her arm, and Faith had to firmly plant her feet and lean back to hoist him up with a strained grunt. He could have given her help by making an effort to stand, but she guessed this was more fun to watch.

She stared at him for a moment. “… So, you’re okay.”

He smiled. “I’m fine, Boss.”

She nodded with a sigh, lightly slapping a hand on his cheek before it fell to his shoulder and glided down to his chest. After feeling a few strong beats of his heart through the road leathers, she gave him a light shove. “Let’s go.”

 

  
Their next stop was the tunnel complex underneath Cola Castle. Down the stairs, Faith stopped them and they crouched down, hearing the Ghoul’s voice. In a floor-level window they peaked through and saw the magician speaking to a feral. Faith aimed her pistol at Oswald, but as soon as she fired he disappeared in a cloud of smoke again, and when it dissipated the feral was on the ground from a bullet to the head.

Anger heated Faith’s chest, boiled her blood and squeezed her mind. It made her hands shake, had her seeing red.

So, she smiled. A big, toothy grin that had Gage standing up to take a few steps back. “Boss,” he mumbled warily. “Should I take cover?”

“ _It seems your asinine assault won’t be dissuaded,_ ” Oswald said through the speakers. “ _I guess it’s time for the final act. Join me on the roof of King Cola’s Castle, and we’ll see an end to this production._ ”

She laughed through her teeth, swinging Lucille back onto her shoulder, the barbed wire biting into her bare skin. “C’mon, cowboy.”

Gage followed her, though a little further back than usual.

 

  
Oswald was waiting for them on the catwalk, the sun setting.

“Well, it seems—“

“SHUT THE FUCK _UP!_ ” She grabbed Fiend Killer and nailed him in the shoulder, but he disappeared soon after. A burst of radiation somewhere, and the ferals laying on the ground rose up.

The fight lasted long - Faith going from shooting Oswald, who somehow healed a bit each time he disappeared, to helping Gage with the seemingly endless ferals. But eventually she defeated Oswald on the highest catwalk, and Gage finished off the last of his friends.

Faith jumped down, and a sharp pain shot up her ankles once she landed but she was too tired to care.

“Nice job, Boss,” Gage praised after shutting down the radiation sprayers from the terminal.

“That was bullshit, Gage,” Faith mumbled pathetically. “And so fucking annoying.”

He chuckled and draped his arm over her shoulders, leading her to the elevator. “I know, Boss. But we’re done here.”

She let her eyes close, and she clung a hand to the back of his jacket. “Finally.”

 

* * *

 

“Hope your men don’t mind cleaning up Ghoul corpses,” Faith greeted Mason, sitting down on his lap before turning sideways to lay across him, legs draped over the arm of his throne.

The Alpha smirked, one hand going to massage her thigh. “That sounds promising. Kiddie Kingdom’s ours?”

“It’s Pack territory now, yeah.”

“Then I’ll send my men over to clean up the mess. Thanks again, Boss. It’s appreciated.”

“Well… good. Gage, can you pay a visit to Dixie and get her to tell Nisha she’s got the bottling plant? Don’t go to Nisha directly. She’s really got it out for you.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I know. I’ll see you back at Fizztop?”

“Yeah, I'm just gonna rest here for a while."

 

* * *

 

"Well well, look who it is,” Dixie greeted, flirtation in her voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I got a message for you to give Nisha,” Gage answered. “Need you to tell her that she’ll have the Bottling Plant.”

“It’s about damn time we get a park. Honestly, the Overboss must be some kind of stupid for giving us the short end.”

“Watch it, Dixie,” Gage warned, voice low. “Maybe Nisha should work a little bit at her negotiation skills. Threats don’t really win people over.”

“Hm. Whatever you say…” The slit in her helmet showed her eye scanning over him. “Tell ya what. I’ll give Nisha the message, _if_ …” She took his hand and started pulling him towards her shack. “You spend some alone time with me. Been too long.” He started to protest, but she held her other hand up. “Or the Boss can tell Nisha herself.”

Gage hesitated, then let her pull him into he shack. She took off her helmet and tossed it into the corner, and Gage went to work on shedding his clothes. Once they were on the bloodstained bed, Dixie unexpectedly pulled him down into a firm kiss. Gage quickly pulled away, holding her down by the throat.

“I don’t do that, honey,” he told her, no sweetness in the pet name.

“It’s a turn on to be spontaneous in bed,” she countered. “Mm, and I _liked_ that. C’mere—“

Gage flipped her over so she wasn’t facing him, getting a surprised squeak from her. “See? Spontaneous.”

“Suppose this works, too.”

A sickening feeling had churned in his stomach when she kissed him. It made him annoyed, angry even. He didn’t do that with her. She was just a decent body and pretty face.

He was looking forward to getting back to the Overboss.

 

* * *

 

Faith yanked her tank top on and turned to the lift, hearing it kick on. Gage appeared and stepped off.

“Message should be delivered, Boss,” he informed.

Faith gave him a smile and met him halfway on the floor. “Thanks, cowboy.”

“No sweat.”

Her eyes darted to his lips, and she cocked a silver brow. Annoyance coiled in her stomach, but she quickly shooed it away as she lifted her hand to his chin, swiping a thumb over his lips. “Bright red is _not_ your color,” she mentioned, pulling her thumb away and showing him the vibrant lipstick smeared on it. Gage swiped at his lips with the back of his hand, and Faith chuckled. “Tell her she needs to invest in a better tube. Only the shitty kind comes off like that.”

“She… got a surprise attack on me,” he mumbled.

“Mm. I’d say you got away lucky.” She patted his shoulder. “We should both get some shuteye. Gotta take the Bottle Plant tomorrow.”

His jaw clenched, and slowly he lifted his hand, fingers lightly brushing over her face on their way to her hair. He raked through the silver strands before gripping them tightly, and Faith’s eyes fluttered closed. Heat smoldered in her stomach and hot sparks stuck to her ribcage, but she didn’t move. She didn’t want to taste someone else on his lips, didn’t want him when he just had another woman.

“Night, Boss,” he thrummed.

She opened her eyes. “Night, Gage.”


	15. Chapter 15

Faith stared down at the Mirelurk that she had killed with A Kick in the Head, brows furrowed at the fluorescent blue glowing underneath its flesh.

“… Do you think it tastes better than regular Mirelurk?” she asked Gage after a long silent moment of staring at the creature.

“I’ll be honest, I got no fuckin’ idea,” he answered.

Another long pause, and she finally grabbed the combat knife she kept in her boot and cut off a large chunk of the Mirelurk, stuffing the meat into her pack.

“Really, boss.”

“I have to try it or I’m gonna be stuck wondering for the rest of my life. Let’s clear the rest of them out.”

They continued down the river of Quantum, killing every Mirelurk that popped up from the ground. Once they reached the collapsed exit they moved on to the factory and maintenance areas to clear the rest. They used the doors in the conveyor room to leave, ending up on the roof with a great view of the massive Mirelurk Queen making a nest of a small lake.

“Oh,” Faith sighed. “Out of all the things I wanted to find here, that wasn’t one of them.”

“So,” Gage drawled. “What’re we doin’.”

Faith stared at the monstrosity for a moment, then reached into her pack and took out a bulk of plasma grenades. Pulling the pin out of one of them, she threw the entire bouquet at the Mirelurk, hitting her stomach. Before the grenades fell into the water the one detonated, chaining the rest to do the same and obliterating every fleshy bit of the Mirelurk Queen with a plasmic blast.

“That,” she answered.

Gage closed his eyes and took in a slow breath. “You just wasted 10 grenades.”

“Oh I’m sorry, did you want to try and take her down with a bullet? I have a lot more grenades stocked away, it’s fine.”

He jerked his head in a side-nod. “If you say so.”

“I do. Now let’s go.”

 

  
“Well, that’s it,” Gage said once they crossed the park’s entrance. “That was the last park.”

“Great,” Faith smiled. “But…”

“But…?”

“I feel like we’re not…”

Gage cocked a brow. “Done yet?” She nodded graciously. “Good. ‘Cause I don’t think we are. We got all of Nuka World, sure, and that’s a big friggin’ deal. But your guys need something to keep working towards. Something to keep them busy. With that in mind, I have a proposition.”

Faith’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, by all means.”

“How do you feel about moving in on the Commonwealth.”

She glanced away for a moment in thought. “… You got an idea on how to do that?”

“No, which is why I’m bringing it up now. Anything come to mind?”

“… I’m gonna do some thinking. We’ll talk about it when we get back to Fizztop.”

 

* * *

 

“Boss,” Gage greeted, stepping off of the lift with a man in tow. “This is Shank. He’s in charge of the caravans and keeps track of the goings on outside Nuka World.”

Faith shook his hand. “Pleasure.”

“Likewise, Boss,” Shank responded, voice drawling and sleazy. “Gage told me you wanted to talk about expanding our influence. I’d love to hear your ideas.”

Faith stepped behind the bar and spread out a map of the Commonwealth, several areas marked in black ink. “Pay attention, gentlemen. The circled areas are abandoned settlements and Raider territories, the dots represent settlements. What I want to do is pay a visit to a few of these territories and clean house so our boys can move in, and I also want to pay a visit to these settlements and persuade them to supply our new outposts. But we obviously can’t take over every single Raider outpost. Doing that would decrease our numbers here, and we didn’t take over all of Nuka World just to move out. I do have a couple of Raider Boss’s in mind to make allies, though, and if we make our presence strong enough the gangs we feud with would think twice before messing with us.” She looked up from the map. “Thoughts?”

Both of the men grinned. “It’s a solid plan, Boss,” Shank said. “You just say which gangs you want at each outpost and I’ll send a few of their boys out to meet you. And once you get supply settlements I’ll secure a few caravans to make a route between them and our new outposts.”

“Gage? What d’you think? I don’t wanna just go ahead without your approval.”

Gage’s smile grew. “I agree with Shank. It’s a great idea.”

“Glad to hear it. I wanna start by taking over Taffington for the Operators, Easy City Downs for the Pack, and Murkwater Construction for the Disciples. I’ll pay a visit to a couple of settlements personally and get them to supply us. Also, I want to take over Libertalia. Not as a set territory for a specific gang but for all three - I wanna use it as a hub for all Commonwealth business.”

“I’ll get everything set,” Shank offered. “And in the meantime I’ll have a few volunteers sent over to the Power Plant to try and get it back up and running. Gonna take a while since we’ve never made a move for it, but we’ll get it done.”

“I appreciate it. Get a select group of members from each gang and make sure they’re ready to head out to the Commonwealth by tomorrow.”

“On it.”

Gage waited for Shank to leave before turning to Faith with a smile. “I’m proud of you, Boss.”

Her heart swelled in her chest and her shoulders slumped. “Thanks, Gage. That means a lot. You’re gonna come with me to the Commonwealth, right?”

“Course I am. Gotta have your right-hand man with you, right?”

She huffed out a laugh, eyes shining. “Always.”

They heard the lift kick to life and turned towards the platform to see Dixie appear. “Hey Boss, Porter,” she greeted. “Nisha wants to see you. I told her that you took the Bottling Plant, but she’s bein’ insistent.”

Faith glanced at Gage with a grimace, then shrugged. “Fine.”

Gage stepped onto the lift with both of them. “Told you not to call me Porter,” he said to Dixie.

“Well I like it so I’m gonna keep sayin’ it.”

“You want me to cut out your tongue?”

“Mmm. Kinky. Wouldn’t mind a bit of knifeplay next time.”

Faith felt a pang in her chest, and her jaw clenched. With a roll of her eyes she jumped off the lift before it touched the ground.

 

 

  
Nisha was waiting in front of her shack. “I’m not happy, Overboss.”

“Oh,” Faith said, brows rising. “Then let me drop everything to make sure you’re emotionally satisfied.”

“What were you thinking, giving us the short end? Do you know the mistake you’ve made?”

“See, Nisha, that’s part of the reason you only got one park.”

“Easy, Boss,” Gage mumbled.

Nisha straightened up when Faith took her stance in front of her, getting at least an inch over her. “I told you that if you fucked up, I’d kill you.”

“Yet I’m still standing here. Listen Nisha, I’m giving your gang access to a Commonwealth outpost. If you still want in, then watch yourself. Or else I might stop being so kind.”

When she turned around she heard metal scraping against metal. Then, a shout from Gage and a blade to her neck. Faith moved with the swipe that would have slit her throat and quickly spun around, punching Nisha across her jaw to stagger her, then wrenching the knife from her grip and plunging it into her bare waist as she shoved her back against the shack wall.

“I pull my hand to the left and your guts come pouring out,” Faith said lowly. “Do you know how fucking tempted I am right now?”

“Let go of her, you—!”

Two shots rang out, and two bodies crumpled to the floor before a man’s voice spat out curses, overlapping Dixie’s.

“Boss,” Gage said carefully. “Don’t do anything rash."

Faith kept her eyes zeroed in on where Nisha’s eyes were under her helmet. “You are on thin fucking ice, Nisha. Watch where you step.” She twisted the blade before stepping back, leaving the knife in Nisha’s waist. Turning to the door, she saw a helmeted man and Dixie on the floor, both with a bullet in one leg, and Gage with his rifle at the ready.

“You okay, Boss?” he asked as soon as they were out.

“Fine,” she huffed, but he still put his fingers to the side of her neck and tilted her chin up with his thumb, giving him a view of her throat. She could feel a split in her skin stretch open, and her entire body cringed at the thought of the blade going any deeper than it had.

“You need to be more careful, Boss,” Gage told her.

“I _was_ careful. My throat’s not gashed open, right?”

“… I shoulda been more on guard. Could’ve stopped that whole thing from happening."

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” She let him inject a stimpak near the wound. Normally she wouldn’t waste one on an injury so minor, but she hated the feeling of a slit directly on her throat. “Sorry I made you shoot Dixie. And whoever that other guy was.”

“Hell, I’ve been wanting to do that anyway. You just gave me a good reason. And don’t worry about this - if someone gets violent towards the Overboss, the Overboss can do the same to them. Some rule everyone agreed on when we first came here.”

“Good. Don’t want anyone to boot my ass for this. Now let’s get back to Fizztop - we’re leaving for the ‘Wealth tomorrow.”


	16. Chapter 16

After meeting with Shank and having him tinker with her Pip Boy, setting up a link between it and his ham radio, Faith set off with Gage and three small groups.

The monorail ride to the Commonwealth with several members of each gang was… interesting. Faith felt most at ease with the Pack members, a sense of camaraderie settling between them. The Operators were decent enough, though a little stoic, and the Disciples kept to themselves altogether - probably fuming over what Faith had done to Nisha.

“So what’s the plan, Boss?” one of the Pack asked as they left the transit center.

“You head to the locations I marked for all of you,” Faith answered. “Set up camp nearby and assess the area while you wait for me. I’ll meet you there a day or two after.”

“You got it.”

The Operators said goodbye with polite nods while the Disciples simply left, but the Pack gave her shoulder shoves and hair ruffles before setting out.

“Huh,” Gage said. “They ain’t afraid to get handsy with ya, are they.”

“Just like the Cazadors,” she pointed out. “Anyway, let’s stop by my place so I can say hi to Vic."

 

* * *

 

The man was outside near the pumps, crouched down in front of an old-world motorcycle. Faith called to him as she walked down the hill with Gage and he stood.

"Well look who it is." He wiped his greased hands on his shirt before grabbing her shoulder and roughly pulling her into a hug, his hand gripping the back of her neck. When they pulled apart, she noticed the shiner he was sporting. "Woah, what happened to you?"

He screwed his eye shut when she started prodding at the purpled skin. "Oh yeah, no, that feels great, you pokin' at it like that." She took his face in her hands, and he sighed. "One of my clients, beautiful lady, super sweet,"

"Oh no."

"She invited me over for a thank-you dinner. Her husband came home durin' dessert. We thought he'd be back later."

"You _knew_ she was married."

"Look, I think we've already established that I ain't exactly a saint, all right. So moving on."

She let him go. "What's with the bike?"

"Client, different client, found it with the keys actually with it, so he's payin' me a shitload of caps to get the thing up and running again. Anyway, who's with ya?"

"Oh, uh, Vic you’ve met, or at least seen, Gage before. Gage, Vic.”

“Right.” Vic gave his hand a brief shake. “If you’re here with her, I’m guessing there's a reason?”

“There is,” Faith nodded. “Can we talk inside?”

“Sure thing. Uh… feel like makin’ dinner? I haven’t had a decent meal since we split.”

She rolled her eyes and looked at Gage. “I fuckin’ told you he’d mention food right away.”

Vic shrugged helplessly, following her inside. “I’m a busy guy, I have to keep my energy up!”

“Yeah, it takes a lot to be such a pain in the ass.”

“Well you would definitely know, wouldn’t you.” Her hand lashed up to grab his jaw, and he smirked at the feigned threat in her eyes before placing a kiss on her forehead and leading them inside.

 

* * *

 

"This is..." Vic breathed out a laugh. "Fuck, girl, this is great news. You're gonna be one of the most influential Raider Bosses alive, you know that, right?"

She smiled, leaning against the counter across from the two men eating. "Don't jump the gun. I still have a couple steps ahead."

"Yeah but knowing you, it'll be smooth sailing." He paused for a moment. "... He'd be proud of you, y'know."

She closed her eyes and took in a slow breath before opening them again. "You don't think he'd see it as cheating? I mean, Gage is the one who made me Overboss."

"'Cause you earned it," Gage piped up. "Wouldn't have done it if you weren't worthy of it, Boss."

"Hear that? You deserve this. Don't doubt yourself."

She hummed a laugh. "All right."

 

* * *

 

They spent a few hours chatting before Faith went off to bed in the small office she had converted into her room. Gage called the sofa outside her door as his, but Vic asked him to join him for another beer before he could lay down.

The Raider sat on the couch in the greaser's room on the roof while Vic sat across from him on a worn chair. “Why do I feel like I’m bein’ sat down by her father,” Gage said dryly.

Vic chuckled and poured scotch into two glasses, sliding one towards the Raider. "Because I'm the one who's gonna kill ya if you do anything to hurt her." A smile tugged Gage's lips. "But I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Faith only screws people she likes.”

That wiped the smirk off his face. He’d been with Faith the whole night and she didn’t mention it once.

It was Vic’s turn to smile. “I know her tells. Caught the way she looks at you sometimes, and I _know_ that look."

"Yeah?" He took a swig of his scotch, hesitating with his loaded question. "Have you and her...?"

"Slept together? No, for two reasons." He lit a cigarette. "One, we don't see each other that way. I mean we flirt, eye each other, sure. But it's all in good fun. Two, Vince would crawl outta his fuckin' grave and hitch a ride with a caravan all the way here just to kick my ass if I tried anything with her. But I've traveled with her, and she's picked up her fair share of one night stands during spare time." He took a swig. "Anyway, I'm assuming she told you about what happened with the Cazadors?"

Gage nodded solemnly. “Damn shame what happened.”

“I know it ain't ‘Raider-like’, but she loved them, and she’s still hurting over what happened. They were like a big family. Took bullets for one another and everything. Made sense to them I guess, but it’s damn annoying when Faith decides to take a hit that wasn’t for her.”

Gage huffed out a laugh. “I feel you, man. She took a swipe from a fuckin’ Deathclaw hybrid for me. Didn’t even know why I was angry after she did it.”

Vic tapped his cigarette over the ashtray, eyes still locked with Gage's. “Angry, huh? Didn’t know any other Raider would be out for anyone but themselves. Thought you’d be happy she took the hit.”

 _Has a point…_ “Well she’s the Overboss. Without one, all the guys in Nuka World would be left without a leader, and that ain’t good.”

Vic stared at him, assessed him, then smiled. “Sure, brother. Whatever you say.”


	17. Chapter 17

Faith put her hands up in defense when the patrolman aimed his rifle at them, and Gage followed suit. “I just wanna talk with your boss,” she called. “I have a deal that might interest him.”

He hesitated before lowering his weapon. “Follow me. And don’t try anything.”

They started following him down the quarry’s path to the bottom, and Gage leaned closer to Faith. “So you think they can be an ally?”

“Maybe,” Faith whispered back. “They weren’t here before I left for Nuka World, but I know one of their guys. We, uh… spent some time together after I helped him out with draining this place.” The guard pointed to a man in a ushanka hat. “And… that’s him. Sully?”

The Raider boss turned away from a table map. “Faith?” He breathed out a laugh. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“Just passin’ by when we saw the shacks set up. You didn’t tell me you were a Raider.”

“Yeah well, I wanted to keep it on the low until we got established, plus it’s not great pillow talk.”

She nodded, her eyes scanning over him. “Listen, I got a deal for you.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

 _That fucking voice_. “I’m in charge of three different Raider groups at a place called Nuka World, and we’re doing some expanding. We sure could use a couple allies.”

He looked her over as well. “…Yeah. Yeah, I like it. Why don’t you and I get a little privacy to negotiate, huh?”

Heat fluttered in her stomach at his suggestive tone. “Understood. Gage, I’ll be right back.”

He nodded. “Sure, Boss.” 

 

* * *

 

Gage took a drag from his cigarette, telling himself that he wasn’t upset. Wasn’t annoyed that it's been half an hour since Faith had disappeared with that lowlife Raider Boss. And he definitely didn’t smoke only when he was pissed off.

“Got any more of those?”

He turned his to see a woman next to him - pretty, for a Raider. “Sure,” he mumbled around his cigarette, digging the pack and his lighter out of his pocket and slapping them into her hand.

“Thanks, handsome.” She lit up and took a drag. “So what are you two doing here? Your friend’s been in there a while.”

“Negotiating,” he answered simply.

“Yeah? I’ve seen boss strike deals before and none of the beneficiaries come out lookin’ like _that_.”

He looked to where she nodded and saw Faith stumble out of the shack with a stupid grin on her face, parts of her harness unfastened and the ushanka hat lopsided on her head. Sully was right behind her, and as he reached to grab his hat she smacked his hand away. They exchanged a few words, though Gage couldn’t make out what they were. Then Sully wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her back into the shack, cutting off her laughter with a kiss right before he slammed the door closed.

"I think they're gonna be a while longer," the Raider beside him said. "So how about we have a little bit of fun ourselves, hm?" She gestured to another woman that Gage had noticed was lingering nearby, and she sauntered over. "The three of us."

Gage took a deep, slow drag from his cigarette, then tossed it to his feet to ground it under his boot.  _Fuck it._  

"Lead the way, honey."

 

* * *

 

"Sure you don't wanna try and win it back again?" Sully asked, his hat on his head again.

"Mm, tempting, but I should get going," Faith answered. "Remember, Libertalia should be an active hub within two weeks. You and your men are welcome there, as long as you play nice."

"No worries, Overboss. I make good on my deals."

"Good. Be seeing you."

"I look forward to it."

With a smile, she turned and walked away until she heard his door close. She looked around for Gage, but couldn't spot him.

"Hey, lookin' for your friend?" one of Sully's men asked.

"Yeah. You see him around?"

"Disappeared with a couple of our girls a while ago to, quote unquote, 'have some fun'. He'll probably be back soon."

She nodded, glancing away. "... All right. Thanks."

 

She waited for about 15 minutes before Gage emerged from inside the Quarry, shrugging on his jacket. "Hey Boss. Hope you haven't been waitin' long."

She gave him a smile and pushed off the wall. "Nah. You ready to get outta here?"

"Whenever you are."

She led the way out. "So I was told you 'disappeared' with a couple lucky girls."

He huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, figured you'd be a while, so."

"Hey, you deserve some fun." She smiled, but she couldn't help the pang of jealousy in her chest.  _Not like he's all mine. He can sleep with whoever he wants._

 

* * *

 

“Hey Boss,” one of the Operator’s greeted, standing up with the others. “Turns out Taffington just has a little pest problem. Easy enough to solve, but we thought we’d wait for your call anyway.”

“Appreciate it,” she smiled. “Let’s go.”

 

Like expected, taking down a few Bloodbugs was easy enough, and after the giant insects had been taken care of, Faith gathered her men. “I already talked a settlement nearby into supplying you,” she informed. “Covenant. I want two of you stationed over there to make sure they keep their word.”

Two of her men glanced at each other, and one spoke up. “We’re on it, Boss.”

“Good. Building supplies will come in a few days so you can spruce the place up, maybe get a couple chem or gear shops going. I’ll be checking in on your progress occasionally, so don’t slack off. See you all later.” 

 

* * *

 

“We’ll make this quick, all right? Just need to get more ammo and check on a friend,” Faith assured, sensing Gage’s unease in the Great Green Jewel. Passing the clinic, Latimer stopped them.

“You. I need to speak with you,” he said sternly.

Faith narrowed her eyes, not bothering to fully turn towards him. “Buzz off, old man.”

“Shut up, punk,” he snarled. “Did you kill my son Nelson? Did you?!”

“Woah there,” she exclaimed, “why accuse me?”

“Marowski said so. One of his men saw you did it. So? Is it true?”

Vince’s lesson of always owning up to your kills popped into her mind, and she held back a wince. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “I killed ‘im.”

“You son of a bitch!” he growled. “At least tell me one thing. Why? Why did you do it?”

“Look, he was involved in things that have a tendency to get out of hand, and that’s exactly what happened. But I’m sorry he’s dead. Really. It’s never easy losing family.”

His expression softened. “I… appreciate that. Nelson, he… well he wasn’t exactly a choir boy. Thought he was shape up one day, make me proud. Well… I guess that’s done. So… yeah. Thanks for being honest. Excuse me.”

Gage waited for him to walk away before speaking. “What was that about?”

“I got wrapped up in a big chem deal that went bad. Fuck, I should’ve known Trish would rat on me.”

“And who’s Marowski?”

“Some has-been that set up shop at a hotel in Goodneighbor. It was his merchandise that I stole. I let one of his men go, which was clearly a bad choice. So now we have to make a stop in Goodneighbor or I’ll have Triggermen after me.”

“Whatever you gotta do, boss. I’m with ya.”

She ignored the way that tugged at her heart and simply smiled. "All right, next stop is the Dugout."

 

 

"Faith! It's good to see you lapochka," Vadim greeted. 

"Hey Vadim," she said warmly. "You stayin' outta trouble?"

He chuckled. "You are _checking up on me_? I love it. Do not worry, I have cut ties with anyone who might try to kill me over... debts. All is well, friend. Relax!"

Faith leaned against the counter and thought about ordering a drink, but she was cut off when a young woman called for her attention.

"Got a minute?" she asked with a friendly smile. "Drink's on me."

Faith smiled back. "I've always got time for a free drink."

"Pull up a chair, then."

Faith did as she said, taking the stool next to her. "Tell me about yourself."

The woman laughed, coyly looking away. "I'm not actually looking for a date, sister. Sorry to disappoint. I'm just in town looking for Henry Cooke. You see him?"

Her smile faltered. "Why you lookin' for 'im?"

"Fair question. He's my father. I haven't heard from him in a while so I came to town to check up on him. So?"

Faith closed her eyes for a moment before answering, "He's dead."

The woman's kind expression turned mean in an instant, and she stood up. "Is that so. What d'you know about it."

Faith stood with her. "I killed him." She grabbed the chest strap of Faith's harness and tugged her into her personal space. Faith saw Gage move in the corner of her eye and motioned for him to stop without breaking eye contact with Cooke's daughter.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right here," she threatened.

"He was sleeping with someone's wife and the husband hired me to take him down."

The woman's grip loosened. "What? That... That son of a bitch!" She scoffed and shoved Faith away. "Figures. Just go. Get outta here before I change my mind."

"Oh no no," Vadim cut in. "Faith is always welcome here. Perhaps you are the one who should be leaving."

"It's all right, Vadim," Faith said. "We'll go. See you later."

 

"Jesus, Boss," Gage mumbled as they stepped out of the Dugout. "You sure find your fair share of trouble."

"Life's no fun without it," she smiled. "Now let's get that ammo before we run into more people who wanna kill me."


	18. Chapter 18

As soon as they walked into Marowski’s office, they had weapons pointed at them. “Woah, careful there,” Faith said, putting her hands up and Gage doing the same. “You can hurt someone with those.”

“That’s the idea, doll,” Marowski responded, not bothering with pleasantries. “If you don’t give me my caps, that is.”

“You win some, you lose some. You’re a business man, you gotta know that.”

“That’s not how I do business. I’ll make this simple - 2,000 caps. You have a week.”

“A week. Starting… right now? Like, right now. Right this second? Immediately?”

Marowski rolled his eyes and nodded at the door. She was prodded with a rifle and stumbled through the threshold, Gage following her through and out of the hotel.

“So what’re you gonna do?” he asked.

“Gonna take care of Marowski,” she answered simply. “Nice and quietly. Sure I have the money, but he’s a sore loser.” She looked at her Pip Boy to check the time - 10pm. “We’ll go back at midnight. I wanna hit ‘im while he’s asleep. Don’t want all of Goodneighbor after me for murder.”

“What’re we gonna do till then?”

She thought for a moment. “… Wanna grab a drink?”

 

  
Faith came out of the bathroom wearing what she called her ‘Casino dress’. Sleeveless, low backed, red and short. Gamblers would always get distracted when she crossed her long legs a little slower than necessary, always leaned a little too close to try and sneak a peak when the skirt rode up her thigh. Their wrists would go limp, flashing the faces of their cards just long enough for her to scope.

“Ready for that drink?” she asked Gage, the Raider’s gawking making her smirk. “C’mon.”

“Right behind ya, boss.”

 

“Hey there hot stuff,” Magnolia grinned. “Haven’t seen you in here for a while. Was beginning to think you were getting bored of me.”

“Bored of you? Never,” Faith promised. “You heading to the stage now?”

“Sure am. Keep your eye on me, honey.”

“I always do.” She gave Magnolia a kiss on the cheek and stopped by the bar before returning to Gage with two whiskeys. She sat down at their corner table, hidden comfortably in dimness and over shined by Magnolia’s spotlight.

“You know the singer, huh?” Gage said.

“Took her on a couple dates,” Faith admitted, crossing her legs. She smiled when she realized what song Magnolia had picked - Goodneighbor.

“Dates?” Gage repeated, brow cocked.

Faith nodded. “She made me work for it. Worth it, though.”

“Oh?” He took a swig from his whiskey.

“Mm. A little bossier than I thought she’d be. For such a sweet lady I thought I’d be the one to take charge… Give me a sec.” She stood up, ignoring Gage’s question of where she was off to. She walked over to the bar counter and stepped up to it, shooting Magnolia a smile.

“Took a dive, with the swans, out in Commons with nothing on…”

She slowly ran her hands up her thighs, a finger hooking under the hem of the skirt and lifting it just high enough to show she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. It earned her a few wolf whistles and a grin from Gage.

“The mutant stopped to savor, all my bad behavior…” Magnolia took Faith’s offered hand and was hoisted onto the counter herself to stand side by side with the Raider, “It’s all in a day’s work, when you’re a good, good neighbor.”

Faith swayed her hips with the singer, and she reveled in the attention as she danced with a seductive smile. Her eyes scanned the crowd, stopping on Hancock. He sat with a woman on both sides of him, posture relaxed. His obsidian eyes locked on hers and the mayor took a long, slow drag from his cigarette.

Faith hoped her right-hand was catching it.

Once the song ended, Magnolia draped her arm around Faith’s shoulders. “Give it up for Faith!” Applause erupted, accompanied by whistles and come-ons. “Always a treat to have her join in, isn’t it ladies and gentlemen.” They stepped off the bar together. “Hope you enjoy the next song, honey.”

Faith nodded her farewell and stood in place until the music kicked up. She recognized the song almost instantly - I’m the One You’re Looking For.

A few patrons tried to catch Faith’s attention as she walked across the floor, but she ignored them and headed straight for Gage. She saw a smirk tug at his lips, and he took her hand to brazenly pull her down onto his lap.

“Looked real good up there, Boss,” he said lowly, hands planted on her thighs. “Always look so damn good.”

She rested her head back against his shoulder and tilted her neck to whisper into his ear. “Wanna see if we can get away with it like we did in the shower room?”

A bit back grunt. “Think it’s different when there’s an actual audience, boss.”

“No one can see us with that grate in the way.” She shifted her ass against his crotch, feeling him harden in this pants. “I’ll be subtle.” Her shoulders slumped in disappointment when he didn’t respond, but she quickly perked up when he lifted her up to unzip his fly. She leaned forward against the table and relaxed, biting her lip when he hiked her dress up a little, granting him the slightest view of her ass. She felt his fingers glide along her sex, slicking them up.

“C’mon, I’m ready,” she urged, canting her hips.

“Whatever you want, boss.”

She heard the smirk in his voice right before he quickly sunk her down on his cock, and her mouth fell open in a silent moan. The chair creaked as Gage leaned against the backrest, one hand resting on her hip. Faith bit her lip again and arched her back as she continued to lean against the table, then rolled her hips.

“ _Fuck_ that's good,” she whispered, realizing how long it’s been since she had Gage inside her. His hand lowered so his thumb was against the swell of her ass, and she knew he was watching her lift and press against his thighs.

Faith was just starting to pick up her pace when Gage spoke. “Looks like we’re bein’ watched after all.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him, and he nodded to somewhere in front of them. “Looks like the mayor wasn’t satisfied with just your little show… Why don’t you meet his eyes again, honey.”

Faith looked forward again and her gaze locked with Hancock’s. He was still sitting on the couch with two women beside him, but they were focused on Magnolia. The mayor took a slow drag from his cigarette, not averting his eyes. Gage lifted her hips for her and sunk her back down, and her mouth fell open again. The movement kicked her back into gear and she continued her subtle and slow pace. Her entire body was heated with pleasure and her cheeks burned as Hancock watched her. Her breath picked up, no helping that, but she managed to hold back the whimpers and moans that built in her throat.

“Gage,” she breathed. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

“Keep your eyes on his, baby,” Gage thrummed, “and let ‘im fuckin’ know that.”

Faith let everything she felt reflect in her expression, and she was so focused on it she couldn’t keep her noises in check, little whimpers and gasps escaping her. Gage straightened up so his back was to hers and slid his hand over her mouth, his other hand moving between her thighs so he could work lazy circles around her clit. With her legs hooked around his knees he spread his thighs to do the same to hers, and her dress slid up to bunch around her hips. It no doubt gave Hancock a nice view under the table, and judging by the expression that flashed on his face he enjoyed it very much.

She fought to keep her eyes open and on the Ghoul’s, but Gage was rolling his hips now and it was so hard not to let them flutter closed or roll back. Short breaths huffed out of her nose and leaked from under Gage’s palm.

“He wants you so fuckin’ bad,” Gage said, voice thrumming near her ear. “Can you tell?” He moved his hand to her jawline.

“I don’t care,” she panted. “Shit Gage, I don’t care, I just want you. Fuck, you’re so good.” A chuckle, and she nearly melted. “I—fuck—c’mon, c’mon Porter, I need you.”

She squeaked in surprise when he quickly stood up, leaving her bent over the table as he started his own relentless pace, potential onlookers be damned. Still she fought to keep her eyes on Hancock’s, and what an amusing sight it was to see that deep obsidian widen in surprise. When she came she couldn’t help how her eyes fluttered close for a moment, and her nails scraped against the table as her body tensed.

Gage wasn’t far behind, his thrusts turning erratic before he pulled out of her. A few moments passed and he slid her off the table and back onto his lap, his arms wrapping around her - an uncharacteristically tender thing to do, but damn if it didn’t make her smile.

They watched the mayor whisper to his girls before hurriedly towing them out of the bar and up the stairs.

“What was all that about, Gage?” Faith asked.

“Ain’t exactly sure, boss,” he mumbled. “All I know is that you brought it out of me.”

She hummed a laugh, and they stayed in comfortable silence for a few moments before she asked, “Wanna go again? Still have time to kill.”

He huffed out a chuckle. “How about somewhere more private?”

“... The V.I.P room? They converted it into to a bedroom after the merc staying there relocated.”

“And where’s the VIP room.”

“Right there.”

“… We could’ve gone in there in the fuckin’ first place?”

“That would’ve defeated the whole ‘risk of getting caught’ excitement. Head on in while I give Charlie a heads up that it’s gonna be occupied.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

She stood up and quickly pulled the skirt of her dress down. “And be ready for me when I get in there.”

He zipped his pants up and stood, giving her ass a smack as he moved to pass her. “No patience whatsoever.”

Faith’s stride was relaxed as she headed to the bar. “Hey Charlie. I’m gonna use the VIP room for a while. That okay?”

“Course, luv. How’s Vic doin’ these days?”

“Business is great, and he's got a generous client right now. I’ll tell ‘im you said hi.”

“While you’re doin’ that, tell ‘im he still owes me 200 caps.”

“C’mon, Charlie, 200 caps? You might as well let it go.”

The handy sighed. “All right, all right. Off with you, then.”

She shot him a wink before heading for the VIP room. She closed and locked the newly installed door behind her, then turned to see Gage staring at a full-body mirror propped against the wall near the corner, right beside the couch.

“Something on your mind, cowboy?” she asked, voice warm.

He gestured to the mirror with a limp hand and a smirk. “Yeah. Strip the dress off and get over here.”

“Yes sir,” she said lightheartedly, doing as he said while he yanked his jacket and undershirt off. Faith didn’t waste time and pulled him into a firm kiss, smiling against his lips when his hand unexpectedly cupped her cheek. then she was being pulled by her arm and positioned on the couch, Gage getting behind her. Their eyes met in the mirror, and a crooked grin split his face.

“Every fuckin’ second you’re a stunner, but you’re a whole other sight to behold when you’re bein’ fucked.” He kissed her shoulder and shifted her legs back so they caged his. “Want you to see that for yourself.” Faith met the eyes of her reflection, but only for a moment, because feeling Gage slide into her again made her head fall back against his shoulder, an almost relieved moan leaving her followed by his name. “C’mon, stay with me now.”

She lifted her head and stared into the mirror, eyes fluttering when Gage started to roll his hips. Her eyes darted lower, and heat churned in her stomach. “ _Fuck_.”

“Like what you see, honey?” he said, one hand between her thighs while the other was wrapped gently around her throat. “Like watching my cock slide into you so fuckin’ easily ‘cause you’re just so fucking _wet_.”

“Shit, Gage…” She met his eyes in the mirror, and a gasp caught in her throat. They were darkened by lust but there was something else. Something hard and possessive and territorial. It made her entire body limp with arousal and he let her fall forward onto her hands, if only so he could hold her hips still and fuck her harder.

“Look at you,” he mumbled. “So fuckin’ stunning.”

Her eyelids fluttered and she took in her reflection. Dazed stare, parted lips and flushed cheeks. It was certainly an interesting sight for her to see, but she was much more interested in Gage’s reflection, lust and pleasure influencing his expression. His eyes were locked on her face, but he seemed distant.

Then he leaned forward and ducked his head to kiss her shoulder, and his pace slowed down as he put his whole body into his thrusts. A moan escaped Faith on a heavy breath as she watched their reflection. Gage’s body caging her small frame, his shoulder blades shifting beneath tanned skin and his hand braced on the couch’s armrest. Faith’s body swayed with his, and being able to see him move so languidly was what made the mirror a real treat.

Something thick spread in her chest like blooming cigar smoke, a smothering warmth that had her hand reaching to cradle the back of his head. She bowed her head and focused on everything she was feeling - the surging pleasure, scorching heat from Gage’s chest against her back, his lips against her neck and his breath heavy on her skin, his arm tucked against her chest and his hand wrapped around her throat. Not squeezing, but simply holding.

“Baby,” he croaked, and the sound could make her fall to her fucking knees, could have her begging for him to say it again. "Sweetheart..."

“Porter,” she muttered, the thickness in her chest starting to make it hard to breathe. He was so fucking good, better than anyone she’s ever had but she didn’t know _why_.

She shooed the thought away and focused entirely on the feel of him, of the pleasure and the heat coiling inside her. He could fuck her like this for hours and she wouldn’t mind, but eventually her whimpering, frayed moans grew louder, higher and higher until her voice caught in her throat and her orgasm overwhelmed her.

“So fuckin’ beautiful,” Gage thrummed as she clenched and pulsed around him. He rode out her climax before straightening up and pulling out, coming over the small of her back.

“Shit, Gage,” she sighed as he slumped down beside her. “I just wanna fall asleep now, but I’ve got a mobster to kill.” She glanced at the time on her Pip Boy. “Speaking of…” 

 

* * *

 

“Watch the door, yeah?” she said quietly. Gage nodded, and she snuck into Marowski’s bedroom. With silent steps she walked over to where he slept and unsheathed the combat knife from her boot, slitting his throat in one swift motion. She left him choking on his own blood and closed the door behind her with utmost calmness. Then she turned to see Gage trying to distract the bodyguard, but she'd been spotted over his shoulder.

"What the fuck were you doing in there?" he asked.

"Uh... fucking," Faith answered. "But he sucks so it only lasted like, a minute."

"Nice try, but Marowski doesn't screw people who owe him."

"Oh." She let him pass by, and as soon as he put his hand on the doorknob she bolted, shoving Gage towards the opposite stairs. "We gotta bail!"

Bullets form the bodyguard's machine gun tailed after her, hitting the corner of the wall when she flew around it. Faith couldn't contain a frenetic laugh as she met Gage on the second floor, both of them sharing a second-long glance before they vaulted over the banister, bullets whizzing above their heads before they even landed on the reception desk. Gage faltered on his landing with a grunt of pain, so Faith was the one to crash the doors open.

Seeing two suspicious-looking people running from a scene, the Neighborhood Watch opened fire without question, their bullets only managing to hit Faith's arm while Gage's polymer jacket protected him from the ones that hit his back. They didn't stop running until Goodneighbor was a mile away.

 

"You okay?" Gage panted, watching Faith inject a stimpak into her arm.

"I'm great," she smiled, feeling the bullets being eaten away by the chem as the wounds knitted closed. "That could've gone better and I'll probably need to avoid Goodneighbor for a while, but still. What about you? You good?"

"Yeah, jacket took the impact."

They stared at each other for a moment, just panting, eyes locked as they remained hunched over with their hands planted on their knees. Then Gage breathed out a chuckle, and soon both of them couldn't stop laughing.


	19. Chapter 19

Taking Easy City Downs was a breeze, and so very fun. After clearing out the main building Faith snuck in and hacked the control terminal, setting all of the robots to self destruct. The explosions were massive and the Pack howled wildly from a safe distance, watching as the inhabitants were killed by their own creations. After the smoke cleared, Faith gave the same instructions to them as she did with the Operators, then headed for Libertalia.

 

* * *

 

As bullets zoomed passed him every instant, Gage kept thinking that Libertalia had better be worth it. Besides Nuka World, this was the biggest Raider encampment he’d seen in years. Why the Overboss didn’t choose to ally them instead, he had no idea.

The Overboss. With her popping into his mind again, he scanned the wreckages to see her on a mound of garbage that was collected on one of the center cargo ships. She shot down one of the last Raiders on the pathways, and then the unmistakable whistle of a mini nuke sounded.

“Faith, get down!” Gage screamed, but she was already diving into the water, and the nuke hit just a moment after she disappeared under the surface. He ran down the pathways and hauled himself onto the ship to try and see into the depths. “Boss?” he called, voice frantic. “Boss!”

The sound of wet footsteps and crunching garbage behind him, and he was suddenly shoved into the water himself. Another whistle sounded, and Faith pulled him underneath another ship before caging him with her body, cradling his head to her chest. The nuke plunged into the water and they were violently surged back, a closed-mouth cry coming from Faith as one of her arms fell away.

Gage’s heart hammered against his ribcage, and he wrapped an arm around Faith to bring her to the surface near the main flotilla - the enemy wouldn’t launch a nuke so close to their primary ship.

He hoisted Faith onto the half-sunken boat, wincing at her hiss of pain. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

“One sec, one sec…” She sat up only to slam her shoulder against the metal, and the sound of her shoulder popping back into its socket was almost cringe inducing. “There.” She took Gage’s face in her hands, her pupils blown wide - obsidian surrounded by rings of gray. “You okay? Okay.” She didn’t let him answer, only gave his cheek a healthy slap before standing up and rushing to climb aboard the main chip.

For now Gage could only help take down the rest of the Raiders, taking special care to give the one with the Fat Man a painful death. He was practically seeing red, anger heated his chest and spiked up his neck, tensed all the muscles in his body and made his jaw clench. Then they finally received a safe moment in the captain’s quarters, and he grabbed Faith’s arm to turn her towards him.

“What did I fuckin’ tell you,” he snarled. “You don’t fuckin’ put yourself at risk just for me.”

“Yeah, I told you I heard you,” she responded, a little breathless but otherwise calm. “Didn’t say I’d listen.” Her eyes darted between his, and she gave a weak shrug. “What? What’s wrong?”

Gage shoved her back against the wall and his hand went to her neck, fingers against the side and thumb tilting her chin up. “Do you have any fuckin’ idea how that shit makes me feel?” He searched her eyes and saw nothing but stunned confusion. His body relaxed and his shoulders slumped. “You don’t. Do you.” She shook her head and he sighed, turning slowly on his heels while he raked his fingers over his mohawk. “Fuckin’ goddamn shit, Faith.”

“It’s what the Cazadors did,” she offered, voice unusually low.

“Yeah, well you ain’t a Cazador anymore,” he countered, noticing how she tensed at that. “You’re the goddamn Overboss, and I can’t—“ He closed his eyes and jerked his head. “ _We_ can’t lose you. Your men need you, boss.”

“Then we’re at an impasse,” she mumbled. “‘Cause I don’t wanna lose you. Losing even just one more person I care about, it…” She hardened her voice - or at least tried to. “I can’t.”

The look in her eyes made his chest ache. “I don’t need you to take hits for me, Faith. I can take ‘em myself just fine. Have been my whole life. But seein’ you get hurt on my behalf? That’s gonna be the shit that ends up fuckin’ killing me.”

She looked down for a moment, then pushed off the wall and hooked her arms around his neck, one of her hands cradling the back of his head. “I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna stop. Nice try, though.”

He hesitated before wrapping his own arms around her, one hand brushing over the small of her back to grip her waist while the other settled against her shoulder blade. This was too… sweet. Too intimate and affectionate. But having her against him, holding him so tightly, it relaxed every part of him. She was okay. She was alive. She was right here with him and that’s all that mattered.

If that wasn’t a fucking dangerous thought…

He pulled her away, keeping his hands on her arms for a moment. “... Then I ain’t gonna stop either. I see a hit comin’ for you and I can get there in time, I’m takin’ it for you.”

She shook her head. “No, you don’t get to do that.”

“Too bad, I ain’t gonna stop.” He walked over to the ladder.

“I _order you_ not to get hurt on my behalf.”

“I hear ya, boss,” he smirked, climbing to the latch.

“Gage!”

With a chuckle he ignored her and headed through.


	20. Chapter 20

Faith watched with wide eyes as Vic revved the motorcycle with a cocky grin. "You actually..."

He laughed triumphantly. "You bet your sweet ass I did! Was a pain in the ass to get it running, but worth it."

"So when's the client coming to pick it up?"

"... He's not. He's a little, uh... busy?"

"By busy you mean...?"

"Tossed into the landfill nearby. Poor bastard even had the payment lifted off 'im. 15,000 caps. Least I could do for 'im was put this baby to good use."

Faith smirked and leaned over the bars. "Oh that's _evil_."

"Maybe so, sugar plum, but I feel pretty damn good." He stood up, turning the bike off. "Anyway, what's up next for you two? You stayin' for a while?"

"Just the night. We need to head back to Nuka World."

"All right. Now how about some dinner?"

She narrowed her eyes, a smirk tugging her lips. "I swear, sometimes it seems like you only like me for my culinary skills."

"Not _just_ that. You're pretty sweet eye candy, too."

 

* * *

 

_She was small, but adrenaline helped her kick the man off, shove him to his back so she could straddle him and plunge her combat knife into his chest. Again and again she ripped his heart with the serrated blade, even after his last breath wheezed out of him. She kept at it until the movement of her arms felt mechanical, snapping her out of her trance. The man's eyes stared up at her, unblinking. Dead._

_Blue turned to hazel, and suddenly it was Vince, his life fading in front of her and Faith not doing a damned thing to stop it._

_Dead. Not in the same fashion, but still by her hand._

_All of them, dead._

 

Her eyes fluttered open, her lashes heavy with tears and wet streaks drying cold on her skin. The inhale she gulped in was loud and shaky, and the breath out was a frayed growl of frustration. She did this repeatedly, deciding it was better than letting her exhales be wails.

Then the door opened and she hurriedly sat up, swinging her legs off the edge of the bed and wiping away tears. “Hey,” she said pathetically. “Did I wake you up? Didn’t mean to.”

Gage didn’t respond, just closed the door and sat next to her, his shoulder bumping hers.

“Just uh,” She sniffed and swiped a finger under her eye, “got something in my eye.” She heard him huff out a laugh, and did the same as she leaned forward and planted her elbows on her knees. “Yeah, that was dumb.” There was a pause between them, then Gage’s hand covered the back of her neck, thumb soothing over her skin and the warmth of his palm easing the tension.

“I’m here if you need me, Boss,” he told her quietly. Faith straightened with a shaky inhale and let Gage pull her closer, her body curling into his. “You can let it out, y’know. Whatever it is.”

Her chest tightened and she shoved him hard. “I don’t need to fuckin’ _let it out_ ,” she snarled, but he pulled her to him again with a grip on the back of her shirt. “I don’t fucking need to,” she insisted, over and over as Gage kept her close, letting her pound her fists hard against his chest or shoving his opposite shoulder.

Faith didn’t know exactly when she gave up, when _I don’t need to_ turned into _It’s all my fault_. When her punches turned into a clinging grip and her scowl melted into sorrow.

“I’m right here, baby,” Gage soothed when Faith broke down into quiet sobs and hiccups. He laid them down and she curled into him again, draping an arm and leg over his body. She cried hard into his shoulder, her noises muffled by the sleeve of his undershirt.

 

She cried until her throat felt aching and hallow, until her skin thrummed from the violent sobs and her limbs felt heavy. Once she fell completely quiet Gage moved them, laying her down properly so he could drape the blanket over her.

Faith noticed how he hesitated to back away, how he searched her eyes. So she shifted further to the other side of the mattress and patted the space next to her. Gage stayed silent and laid down on his side so he remained facing her.

It felt strange to speak, and her voice came out hoarse. “I could’ve saved him,” she admitted quietly. “I think. With enough stimpaks… He told me not to.”

“Then it’s what he wanted.”

“But it was a shit decision. If I hadn’t listened then he would still be alive. He… He deserved to die in a better way. Like, 100 years old and in his sleep.”

Gage huffed. “But do you really think that’s how he’d wanna go?”

She thought about it. “… No. He’d wanna go out fighting, like he did. Like all of them did.”

“And if you were there you would’ve gone down with ‘em. You wouldn’t have accomplished all that you have already. Wouldn’t have done something that would make him so damn _proud_.”

Faith didn’t think she could cry anymore, but a tear welled from her eye, curved to stream down her temple.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and her voice came out quietly. “Aw shucks, cowboy.” He rolled his eyes, and she hummed a laugh. “… Thanks.”

“Any time, boss.”

 

* * *

 

Gage woke with a start, immediately recognizing that he was in a comfortable bed rather than the shitty mattress in his room or a sleeping bag on the ground. Remembering last night he looked around for Faith, not finding her but a lump under the blanket. He flipped the thick fabric over, uncovering a naked and curled up Overboss.

“Hey,” she whined, brows furrowed and eyes squinted as she sleepily lifted her head. “What the hell, man?”

A word that should never cross a Raider’s mind is ‘adorable’, but that’s exactly what Gage thought. “The hell you doin’ down there?” he asked in amusement.

“Mmf.” She lifted herself onto all fours and crawled forward to flop down next to him. “Old habit. Gets cold in the Mojave at night.”

“Hm. Probably isn’t smart to sleep naked, then.”

“Then it’ll get too hot under the blanket.”

Gage closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead tiredly, then let his hand fall limply back to the mattress before turning back to her. Their eyes met, and a tether between them pulled tight. Something had changed after last night. Gage didn’t know what, and by the look in her eyes she didn’t either.

And waking up in her bed with her, that wasn’t part of the plan. He didn’t mean to fall asleep, was just going to wait until she did then get back to the couch. This was too… personal. Too innocent.

So Gage raked his fingers through her hair and gripped the silver strands in his fist. It was his way of saying,  _kiss me. Start something_. Because he’d never instigate anything between them. It was about what the Overboss wanted. But if he could coax her into it… that was acceptable.

He assumed she got the hint, because she gripped his jaw in her hands and pulled him into a heated kiss. Gage rolled on top of her, vaguely thinking to himself that this was the first time they’ve actually been on a bed together. It felt strange, too soft.

He kissed her jawline, nipped at the base of her throat before shifting lower, trailing more kisses down her body. He managed to get just below her navel before he stopped himself, hearing Faith’s Pip Boy give off a garbled sound from the nightstand.

“Hm,” she hummed. “ _That’s_ not a sound I’ve heard before.” she wrapped her legs around his torso. “Don’t go anywhere.”

He breathed out a laugh and rested his chin on her stomach, watching as she examined her Pip Boy. She hit a switch and the noise stopped, and both of them furrowed their brows when Shank’s voice came through the speaker.

“ _You hear me, Overboss?_ ”

“Yeah, I hear you,” she said warily. “This is weird. What d’you want?”

“ _The Operators at Taffington sent word through their ham radio. They have a situation and they need you to come down_.”

“A situation? It’s only been a few days.”

“ _Word travels fast, and apparently some Raider boss isn’t taking too kindly to you moving in on his territory. He sent word along that he’ll show up at the boathouse soon to have a word with you_.”

She sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll head back there now.”

“ _Roger that. See ya later, Boss._ ”

Faith flicked the switch back and put her Pip Boy down with a clank. Gage glanced away for a second. “Do we have to leave, like… right now?”

“Mm. We should.” She swayed her lower body to roll Gage over onto his back, languidly following him so she was straddling his lower stomach. She stretched her arms above her head with a tired sigh, and Gage took the liberty of roaming his hands up her body, a form that was worthy of fucking worship. And he had her on top of him.

Then she was off in a flash, picking up her underwear and harness. She dressed quickly, and Gage only stood when she unlocked the door. Vic was at the kitchen counter. 

“Couch not good enough for ya, Gage?” he teased, shoveling a handful of Sugar Bombs into his mouth.

“I want only the best for my right-hand,” Faith responded easily, gripping Vic’s jaw and pulling him down for a cheek kiss. “We gotta go.”

He frowned and spoke with a half-full mouth. "Already? Not even gonna make breakfast?"

She blinked at him. "You're already eating."

"This is pre-breakfast."

She pointed at him as she rounded the counter. "You're a pain in the ass."

"A pain in the ass redeemed by my dreamy eyes."

She attached her pack. "And who told you that."

"Oh sugar plum, no one needs to tell me."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Cocky." She stretched over the counter and wiped the dusted sugar from his bottom lip, then licked it from her thumb. "See ya."

Vic whistled at Gage. "You take care of my girl, all right? she likes to get into trouble."

Gage smiled. "Don't I fuckin' know it."


	21. Chapter 21

They heard the Raider Boss’s voice shouting from inside the house.

“You all deaf or somethin’? Where. The fuck. Is. Your. Boss!”

“Out here, pal,” Faith called, and out of the house came a burly Raider and six of his men - three of them in Power Armor.

“You,” he said angrily, rifle drawn. “You the Nuka-World wastepile that thought you could move your gang into Sinner’s territory and live? You give me one good reason I shouldn’t slice you open and eat your heart right here.”

A laugh bubbled up from her throat. “Okay. You listen closely. This is _our_ territory now. I’m going to let you live, but only for one reason.” She stepped closer until the barrel of his gun was against her chest, showing no fear. That alone made the Raider Boss second-guess his decision. “I want you to tell all your little friends that if _any of them_ mess with my boys, I will come after them with over a hundred bloodthirsty Raiders at my back. And if I ever see you again, or hear that you’ve given any of my guys trouble,” she gripped his jaw and brought his face closer to hers. “I’ll make you _wish_ I had just killed you.”

“Woah, easy, take it—take it easy, all right?” he exclaimed, putting his hands up in defense. “Just… keep the land. We’ll piss off.”

“And?”

“And I’ll tell the other gangs not to fuck with your people.”

She smiled and let him go. “Good. You can leave.”

Gage stood next to her with a smirk and watched the rivals go. “Nice job, Boss.”

“Thanks. Ready to head back to Nuka-World?"

"What about the Disciples?"

"They can figure things out on their own."

 

* * *

 

“That’s…” Faith mumbled, staring at the pile of dead Raiders. “Huh.”

“Think it was some good samaritan?” Gage said dryly, crouching to search them for chems to sell or stimpaks to lift.

“I don’t think someone like that would throw them into a pile after killing them.”

“Yeah, probably… Boss, check this out.” He handed her a note, and she unfolded it to read _Find me if you dare_ written in blood, along with a sloppily drawn heart, like someone had simply dipped their finger in one of the wounds. “They’ve all got one on them.”

Her eyes fluttered closed, her brows furrowing. “Fuck. I remember Hancock telling me about some guy out here killing Raiders. Name’s… Pickman, I think. Shit, that’s something I shoulda remembered.”

Gage stood up, huffing out a laugh. “Yeah, I reckon that’s something that’d stick with ya.”

“Apparently he’s killed hundreds, and the mayor hasn’t found anyone to take the job to take ‘im out.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was busy, okay? Doin’ stuff.”

“Ah, of course. Always important.”

“But now with my guys out here, we should take care of it.”

“Agreed, though we should be careful. Do you know where he’s hidin’ out?”

“think I remember.” She sighed. “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

“Hmm,” Faith hummed, examining the art gallery of dismembered Raiders and paintings made from their blood. “Gross.”

A laugh huffed out of Gage, his eyes closed and a slow smile stretching his lips. “Yeah. That’d be the simple way to put it.”

Faith lifted a holotape from an intact body, jacking it into her Pip Boy.

“ _Seth. It's me. I found out what happened to the scouts that went missing up near the old art gallery. They're... they're dead, Seth. I'm lookin' at a... a goddamn painting of Kyle's body? Oh god... What the hell do they do to him?_ ” A man’s voice hummed in the background. “ _Who the hell's there?!_ ”

“ _Admiring my collection? I'm afraid it's not complete yet. Soon, though.”_

_“Stay away from me you psycho!”_

_“Yes. Just like that. Hold that expression on your face.”_

Faith made a disgusted noise. “God… Okay, we need to…”

A clink of metal hitting the floor, the roll of a heavy tube, then the release of pressured air.

 

* * *

 

Gage couldn’t see through the pink-tinted smoke and tears that blurred his vision, but he heard Faith crumple to the floor. “Boss? Boss!”

“Don’t worry about her.”

He froze at the voice - just as well, he wouldn’t have had time to do anything anyway. A syringe found his bicep, and his entire body grew heavy. He slumped to the floor, chest to the rough paneling and head turned towards the doorway to the other room. A figure was approaching, but the darkness that edged Gage’s vision made it hard to see him clearly.

“I really need to strengthen those grenades,” the stranger said. Gage realized it was the same voice from the tape, and heated, tensing fear spiked up his neck from his chest. “They work on females in a pinch, but some males don’t go down as easily. Probably has something to do with size.”

Gage tried to speak, tried to say something about not having a fucking conversation with a man you just turned into a human sandbag, but he couldn’t. Pickman walked out of view for a moment, then appeared again with Faith slung over his shoulder like she was nothing.

 _You lay a single fuckin’ finger on her and I’ll rip your fuckin’ throat out._ Wasn’t so threatening when no one but himself could hear it.

“Think I’ll deal with you first. This syringer ammunition wears off too soon, in my opinion. I’ll just put your companion in the guest suite."

 

* * *

 

Faith was jolted awake by the slam of the door a short distance away, scrambling to her hands and knees before her eyes even opened. When they did she found herself in a large cage inside a dim room, naked save for her underwear. Her chest felt aching and hallow as shallow breaths started to spasm out of her, and she stood up to ram into the cage door, only getting a fucked up shoulder in return. Gage’s name repeated in her mind like a chant the entire time, his absence making the situation so fear-inducing. 

Well… maybe the cage was part of it.

Then she cursed herself, called herself a fucking idiot and reached back to the clasps of her bra. She’d been using a bobby pin to substitute one of the hooks that had broken off. One bobby pin, one chance, so she prayed as she reached through the bars and blindly stuck the pin into the lock. She didn’t even catch what she was mumbling, too focused on getting this right, but it was along the lines of, _Hey God sorry I’m such an asshole sometimes could you please cut me some slack._

A faint click, and for a moment she couldn’t even recognize if it was the lock opening or the pin breaking.

 

* * *

 

Gage’s eyes remained closed as he drifted in and out of consciousness, his head feeling heavy and his body sluggish for the few seconds he would stay awake. He could barely register Pickman moving around, setting up a new canvas. The glint of a scalpel.

His eyes fell closed, and a gunshot echoed. A scream of agony from Pickman, a threat from Faith’s voice. Anger giving it an abrasive tone, like spurs tearing into silk. The cries of pain turned to labored breathing, then her voice again as the gurney straps were released.

“Hey,” she said, her voice echoing in his mind, wet with worry. “Can you hear me, cowboy? C’mon, open your eyes.”

His head rolled towards her and he managed to crack open his eyes. She stood there beside him, silver brows furrowed and creating worry lines in her expression. His heart swelled at the sight of her, and he lifted his hand to her cheek. She was always such a sight for sore eyes.

“Hey, baby girl,” he croaked. She said something in response, but he couldn’t put it together. Then she lashed out at Pickman again, and the harshness of her voice made him screw his eyes shut.

They remained closed until the second syringer dose wore off. Then he became very aware of the almost rhythmic sound of Pickman’s head being bludgeoned by Lucille.

“Hey,” he groaned, sitting up. She didn’t listen, just kept swinging at the bloody mess Pickman’s head had become. “Hey!”

She snapped out of her trance and turned to him, dropping the bat. “Hey. you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She sighed and took his face in her hands, kissing his forehead, then his cheek and finally his lips, over and over until it coaxed a tired smile from him. “I should’ve been more careful coming in. I’m so sorry—“

“No, no, none of that. We both kinda fucked this one up. Let’s just be glad you were tiny enough to get knocked out. Don’t know if he would’ve taken me first or not.”

She let go of him, face blanking. “I’m not tiny.” He narrowed his eyes in a skeptical look. “I’m not!”

“Uh huh. Sure. You know that song that has the line ‘pint sized atom bomb’ in it? That’s about you. Like, to a T…” He glanced away, thinking about it. “Don’t read too much into that. Uh, ya got a little…” He gestured to his face with his trigger finger, circling vaguely. She lifted her fingers to her cheek, the digits coming away wet with blood.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Gross.”

Gage laughed and stood up. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”

“You sure you’re okay to walk?”

“I’m fine, Boss.”

She stopped him with her hands to his chest and locked his eyes to hers. His jaw clenched, and he glanced away for a moment. “Was maybe... a little nervous. Not keen on being cut open and havin’ a paintbrush dabbed into my guts.” she winced at that. “Where’d he put you?”

“A cage. Stripped everything from me, but I had a spare bobby pin hidden on me and managed to find my stuff. But a cage is ten times better than…” She nodded to the gurney, then met his eyes again. “I’m sorry, Gage.”

He was about to tell her not to be, that it wasn’t her fault, that she saved him, but the tears welling in her eyes stopped him. It broke his fucking heart, seeing her cry. It did when he heard her that first night, when he held her at the station, and now.

“C’mon, Boss,” he said with an attempt at a smile, wiping away a tear with his thumb. “I ain’t worth cryin’ over.”

“First of all,” she said, smacking his hand away. “Don’t say that about yourself. Second, I’m not crying.”

He cocked a brow. “Is that right.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Something in your eye, then?”

“Yeah, it’s dusty down here, okay, so fuck you.”

He laughed and kissed her forehead. Too soft and utter bullshit, certainly, but he couldn’t help himself. It was the best he could do without pulling her into a proper kiss.

Luckily, Faith did it for him. She cradled his head and brought him down, capturing his lips with hers. Without breaking the kiss she took off her pack, and Gage followed her lead, helping her with her harness straps and moving on to undo his belt as she shucked her pants off. He didn’t know when the desperation started to build but it was overflowing now, thrumming under his skin as he lifted her up and pinned her to a support beam. She pulled him back into a kiss, moaning into him as his hardening cock slid against her folds, rubbed against her clit.

“C’mon, c’mon,” she urged as she gave him a few teasing strokes, just like she had their first night together. Gage obeyed, thrusting into her and watching her silver brows furrow, her mouth gape open in a silent moan. He hooked her legs over his arms and crushed his body to hers, and even as he felt her chest struggle to expand for breath she pulled at his jacket, her heels dug into the small of his back, urging him even deeper and _fuck_ it always felt like paradise inside her, even surrounded by the fucked up shit Pickman had down in the cellar and the man’s body a few feet away.

After the first syringer ammo had worn off he was almost overwhelmed by fear - not for himself but for Faith. Just thinking about her being touched by that man made his stomach twist in disgust, made dread fill his chest - sickening, suffocating. Like a cheap cigarette had been lit inside him only to be ground against his heart. 

But now Faith was here. She was in his arms, she was tugging at him like she couldn’t get him close enough. Gage loved it. He loved the closeness, he loved the reassurance and he loved—

“Porter,” she whimpered, pathetic and heavy with emotion.

“I’m right here, Faith,” he assured, only able to guess what she wanted to hear. “We’re okay.”

It seemed to be the right thing to say because she relaxed in his arms, pulled him into another kiss and didn’t break it until she was coming hard around him, her frayed cry echoing off the walls. Faith clung to him tightly until he reached his own end. Then they just stood there in each other’s arms. Safe.

“So,” Faith sighed when Gage finally let her down. “With our track record I’m guessing it’ll be me next time, getting my ass in trouble and having you come save me.” She picked her harness up and stepped into it.

Gage glanced away in thought. “Does seem like we’ve been takin’ turns, doesn’t it.”

She nodded and moved on to redoing the straps. “Gage… if, after this, you wanna stop traveling together, I understand—“

“Don’t even say shit like that.” His words overlapped the last of hers.

She avoided his eyes. “I just… don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“Boss, we’re Raiders. We’re always gonna get into trouble, always gonna find ourselves in shit situations. Doesn’t matter who you’re kickin’ it with. Just the circumstances change. So if my life’s gonna be like this anyway, there’s no one else I’d rather get into trouble with.”

Faith smiled. “Same here, cowboy.”


	22. Chapter 22

After reporting to Shank and learning that the Power Plant would finally be up and running shortly, Faith went straight to the Amphitheater. she picked the lock on the one of two cages that held slaves and released the three inside. “Go report to Shank for an assignment,” she ordered. A collective of “yes ma’am”s and they were gone. She got a few stares from Pack members, but no objects.

“You sure about this, boss?” Gage asked lowly.

“Yes, I’m sure. C’mon, just the second cage left.”

They approached Mason’s unusually crowded throne, the Alpha picking a man up by the back of her shirt and jeans. He hauled him like he weighed nothing and slammed him into the bars of the ghoulrilla cage, then let him drop to the ground with a cracked skull.

“Anyone else?” he announced, and the surrounding Pack members scurried away.

“What’s goin’ on, big guy?” Faith asked warily.

“Just takin’ care of a challenger,” Mason answered, sitting down on his throne. “What can I do for ya, Boss lady.”

“Nothin’, I’ll be in and out.” She walked over to the cage to the right and worked on picking the lock.

“Hey,” Mason complained, standing up. “What d’you think—“

“Sit,” Faith commanded with a glare, and the Alpha flopped back onto his throne with wide eyes. Gage sputtered behind her in surprise, and she swung open the cage door. “Report to Shank to be assigned.” The slaves rushed out blabbering thank yous, and Faith stepped up to Mason’s throne.

“Ain’t nobody in a cage that don’t wanna be, boss,” he told her.

“Yeah? ‘Cause when I found myself caged I sure didn’t wanna be in it.”

His brows furrowed, and he glanced away for a moment before asking, “You okay?”

That softened her up a bit. “Yeah, big guy. I’m okay.”

He nodded with a sigh. “Good. Well, you’re the boss, so…” A jerk of his head towards the now empty cage. “You’re the boss.”

She smiled and leaned down to grip his jaw, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Always good to see you obeying.” She straightened up. “I have a feeling Nisha won’t be as lenient.”

“Now hold on, Boss,” Gage piped up. “You didn’t say anything about heading into Disciple territory.”

“She’s got people locked up, right?”

“Yeah, but—“

“Then we’re releasing them. They’re useless if they’re just bleeding out on the ground.”

Mason leered from his throne. “Looks like your right-hand’s worried, Boss lady.”

“Well, Nisha did try to slit my throat, so that’s understandable.”

Mason stood. “She what? That’s outta fuckin’ line.” He breezed passed them. “Maybe I can have a few words with her."

“Woah, woah!” Faith grabbed his bicep to stop him, but was only dragged along by her heels. A giggle escaped her at the sheer unstoppability of the Alpha, but she quickly cleared her throat. “Mason, please don’t.”

“One of the Boss’s tried to kill ya. That shit don’t fly with me.”

“I can handle this. Plus, I stabbed her with her own knife. I don’t think she’ll try anything anytime soon.”

Mason grinned. “Atta girl. Still, be careful. She’s got a temper.”

“Yeah? So do I.”

 

  
Faith hoped it wasn’t obvious that she was relieved at not seeing Nisha when going in or out of the base.

“Would you call me lazy if I wanted to take a nap?” she asked Gage as they headed to Fizztop.

He smiled. “Nah, Boss. You deserve whatever sleep you can get.”

“Thanks. Just let me sleep for a couple hours, then we’ll go and scope out the power plant.”

 

* * *

 

Faith was woken up by a gunshot and wet splatters to her face. Her eyes snapped open to see a Disciple over her bed and two behind her, and moments later the masked woman’s body slumped forward to land in Faith’s lap. She scrambled out from underneath the blanket as two more gunshots rang out, the two other Disciples crumpling to the floor.

“Fuckin’ shit, Boss,” Gage snarled, shirtless with a pistol in his hands. “That light sleepin’ is gonna get you fuckin’ killed.”

“What’s going on?” Faith huffed, standing up from the now blood-soaked bed. Then she noticed more gunshots from below mingling with battle cries.

“Not sure, but I got a good fuckin’ idea.” He glanced out of the plexi glass with her to see both Pack and Operator members engaged in battle with the Disciples. “Fuckin’ dammit.”

Faith grabbed her pack and armed herself. “Go get your shirt and jacket, I’ll meet you down there.”

“No, wait for me, I’ll just be a second.”

“I don’t have a fucking second, Gage, my men are dying down there!” She rushed to the lift and pounded the button.

“Faith, wait!”

She heard him curse before he disappeared from view, and Faith picked off Disciples with her rifle until the lift touched down. She grabbed Fiend Killer and only managed a couple shots before she was yanked down and pinned by the one male Disciple. A knife plunged into her side, and she cried out.

“I pull my hand and your guts pour out,” he mocked. “And I’m gonna—“

He was off her in a flash, and two shots rang out next to her before she was hoisted to her feet by Mason.

“Was just about to come and warn ya, boss,” he told her, eyes fixed on the knife buried in her waist. “Guess the slaves were the last straw for Nisha. Uh… fuck, what…?”

“Just stay still.” She pulled him down and dented her teeth into his shoulder, sinking them in with a muffled cry as she ripped the serrated blade out.

“Faith!”

She released Mason and spit out the taste of his blood, turning to see Gage. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he responded, injecting her with a stim near the knife wound. “Savoy got you?”

“Didn’t see him coming, but Mason got ‘im off.” The two men nodded to each other, then set off with Faith to help take down the remaining Disciples. She was surprised when Gage killed Dixie without any hesitation, but didn’t mention it.

“Overboss,” Mags called, rushing over with her brother. “Nisha took a good number of her men and went to the Power Plant. We would have gone after her but we thought we’d help secure the situation here.”

“The Power Plant, why?”

“Because that was your last step in truly claiming Nuka-World. No doubt she plans to ruin it. She was always I spiteful little bitch.”

“Please tell me we’re going after her,” Mason growled. “I've already lost a lot of my men. I won’t be satisfied until it's _my_ hands wrapped around that scrawny little neck, eyes popping out of that stupid little mask—“

“Okay,” Faith said, a bit high pitched. “Heel, boy. She’s as good as dead.”

“We’re with you, Overboss,” William assured.

“We’ll follow you anywhere,” Mags added with a smile. “ _After_ we deal with Nisha and gain control of the Power Point.”

Faith nodded. “Right. Let’s go, then.”

 

  
They reached the plant just as the sky darkened, and killed every Disciple outside before barging into the facility. Gage and the Raider Bosses followed Faith close behind, Gage a little closer than the others, as they killed any Disciples in their way. Finally they reached the roof, where Nisha was waiting with a handful of Disciples.

Faith went right for her with Lucille while Gage and the others took care of her men. Nisha only had her knife to fight with, probably expected Faith and the others to be taken down on their way up. So Faith kept swinging at her head with no interference, her helmet taking the brunt of the impact. But eventually the dented metal started to cut into her face, so she tossed it. Faith shoved her to the ground and readied herself to swing Lucille down on her head, but stopped.

She’d already won. She was satisfied, didn’t need the final blow. “Hey, Mason.”

He appeared beside her. “Yeah, boss.”

“You wanted to do the honors?”

He grinned wickedly. “Yes ma’am.”

Nisha struggled as the Alpha got on top of her, wrapping two massive hands around her throat. Faith watched him finish her off. An obviously painful, fearful death. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“Nice work, Boss,” Mags smiled. “The Operator and Pack members stationed here managed to keep the Disciples off the machinery, so everything is still set. All that remains is to flip the switch.” She winked. “We’ll leave you to it.”

William gave her a smile and nod before following his sister, and Mason ruffled Faith’s hair before giving her head a gentle shove. “Good job, boss lady,” he smirked.

She huffed a laugh. “Thanks, big guy.” Mason and Gage nodded at each other again, and the Alpha walked off.

“Shall we, boss?” Gage asked.

Faith smiled. “We shall.” She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, that was lame.”

 

Nuka-World was dark, save for a few dim lights shining in the distance. Faith palmed at the power button for a moment, took a deep breath then pressed it down.

Bright neon lights flickered on and dormant fireworks went off. “Not exactly the Strip, but it is beautiful,” she said with a smile. When Gag didn’t answer, she turned her head to already find him staring at her. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer, simply put a hand on her cheek and leaned down, kissing her soft and slow. Faith turned her body towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her stomach fluttering madly. He’d never kissed her first before, and they’d never shared one so… soft. But it had the most effect on her because by the time he pulled away she was a mess.

“I don’t…” Gage muttered. “I don’t know what this means.”

“What?” she asked, a little worried by his frown.

“Everything with you feels… more. I don’t know how to explain it. I keep tellin’ myself it’s bullshit, keep tryin’ to shove things down. But fuckin’ goddamn shit, Faith, it’s driving me crazy. Sex doesn’t feel like just sex, travelin’ with you doesn’t feel like it’s my job, it breaks my fuckin’ heart seein’ you hurt and I _trust you_. I trust you with every fuckin’ part of me. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve trusted _anyone_? I was a goddamn kid when that was taken from me. Now here’s Nuka-World, all lit up right in front of me and thriving like I’ve only been dreamin’ of, and all I can look at is you.”

Her eyelids fluttered, everything hitting her at once. She steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders and glanced away, thinking.

“Say somethin’, Faith,” Gage said, nearly pleaded. “Tell me what it means, ‘cause I’ve got no fuckin’ idea.”

“I think…” She let out a slow breath and met his eyes. “I think it means that we’re more than just a good team. That what’s between us is more than… whatever we’ve been trying to pass it as. It _is_ more. And it’s definitely bullshit because I know that Raiders aren’t supposed to do… this, it’s not in our nature and it’s fuckin’ dangerous, but… I want that with you. I want more, Gage.”

“Faith, I…” He huffed out a heavy breath. “Are you sayin’ what I think you’re sayin’? You wanna… christ, I don’t know what to even call it. You want me?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “Yes, Gage, I want you.”

“I need you to think long and hard about this, Boss. If we do this, you’re mine. I ain’t into sharin’. No more sleepin’ with whoever strikes your fancy. You’ll just have me.” He glanced away for a moment before adding, “Exclusiveness.”

“That’s fine with me,” she grinned. “No one compares to you anyway.” She caught his grin before she was pulled into another kiss, and she could really get used to him being the instigator. He let her pull him across the floor so she could sit on a control panel, but he stopped her when she went to undo his buckle.

“Slow down, baby,” he smiled.

“What, what is it?”

“Let’s take this back to Fizztop, yeah?”

“Yes, say that to me, the most impatient woman in the world.”

He stuttered, “Look, it might sound stupid but I want this time to be different. Not just fucking on the closest convenient surface.”

That got through to her, but she sighed anyway. “Fine. You better fuckin’ keep up, cowboy, ‘cause I’m booking it.”

With a smile, he chased her out.


	23. Chapter 23

Faith’s harness was off before the lift even got to the balcony, and as soon as it touched the platform she was hefted into Gage’s arms and carried to the bed. She hurriedly took off her bra and tossed it away before doing the same with her underwear.

“Almost can’t fuckin’ believe it,” Gage muttered, yanking off his undershirt. “Get to have you all to myself.”

She reached up and gripped his jaw. “Hope you know that goes for you too,” she mentioned. “You get no one else but me.”

“Don't want anyone else.” He got onto his knees beside the bed, and she was confused as to why until he grabbed her leg and turned her until both of her feet were set against his shoulder blades. “ _Never_ wanted anyone like I want you.” He softly bit the inside of her thigh, the silky skin grazing his teeth before he pulled back to place a wet kiss there. Then his mouth was on her and she gasped, the exhale a heady moan because apparently Gage had no concept of starting out by going easy. His ministrations were a blur to her as she clung to the blanket underneath her, her chest heaving with quick and heavy breaths, each one huffing out of her like she was punched in the gut. She rolled her hips and suddenly his fingers were inside her, easily finding that perfect spot, and she cried out. “Fuck, Gage!”

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he praised, placing a kiss on her thigh. “Let the whole fuckin’ park here you.”

She didn’t even last a minute, coming with a breathy, frayed cry. Then Gage was on top of her, and her legs wrapped around him. His hands roamed her body as he kissed her, slowly and intensely, and Faith felt like her heart was going to burst. "Gage, please, I need you."

"Fuck, I love it when you say that," he smiled, and then he was inside of her, his hands gliding up her thighs. Faith cradled the back of his head, fingers gripping his hair, while her other hand splayed against his shoulder blade. He put his entire body into his slow, deep thrusts and Faith moved with him. He kissed her incessantly - her lips, her jaw, her neck. He said he wanted this time to be different, and it really was. Because now they knew what that feeling was, the one that made all of it... more.

"Porter," Faith breathed. "Fuck, I love you."

His arm slid under her and pulled her closer. "Say it again."

"I love you—" her voice broke into a moan. " _Porter,_ I love you."

He kissed her, a gentle hand on her cheek. "You too," he responded, almost too quietly. "I love you too." Faith felt a tear stream down her temple, and Gage placed a kiss there. "Somethin' in your eye, Boss?"

Faith choked out a watery laugh and hugged him closer. "Fuck you."

Gage's chuckle thrummed against her neck, and she could feel him smile against her skin. 

 

* * *

 

 

Faith woke up with Gage's arm draped across her stomach and his breath gentle against her neck. She grinned like an idiot, eyes remaining closed against the morning light. She laid there for a few minutes before Gage stirred, tightening his arm around her to pull her closer, her back to his chest.

"Good morning," Faith murmured warmly, and he placed a kiss on her shoulder.

"Mornin', baby," he mumbled back. "We don't have to get up any time soon, do we?"

"Well _I_ do. I have to take a shower. But you can stay here till I come back."

"Deal."

She kicked off the blanket and bounced over him to stand up, suddenly very aware of the stickiness between her thighs. Gage hadn't bothered to clean her up this time like he did the night inside Fizztop - he had offered after their third round, but Faith was too tired and just wanted to fall asleep with him beside her. So, that's what they did.

 

After Faith showered and dressed in a Cappy and Bottle t-shirt, they both headed down to the park, and as one of the Pack walked by he took Faith's hand. "Park's lookin' great, Boss!" he said as he gave her a spin, following with a rejoicing howl before walking on.

"You don't think they might be a little _too_ relaxed with you?" Gage said.

"Not at all," Faith smiled. "I like it. Anyway, now that Fizztop is empty, I was thinking..." She glanced away, and Gage cocked a brow.

"Are you open to taking in another gang?" he offered, and Faith nodded.

"Exactly what I was thinking. So...?"

He wrapped an arm around her waist, and they continued on. "I think it's a great idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! :)
> 
> \- Ellie


End file.
